We used to have an office raffle for the one state of the union ticket that we received. I never won. Instead, I've always watched it on TV.
There was a changing of the guard tonight that most people won't notice. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and her gold keds with ribbons as laces were missing from the floor. She always sat on the end of the row so she could greet the president as he comes down the aisle.
And it was also a hoot to see John Boehner walking in with the president. He was a good friend of one of my bosses and would stop by every afternoon around 5:45 so that they could head out to make the rounds together.
I still love politics of politics.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The Hives
I guess the hives have been on my mind because we are approaching their 5 year anniversary.
After ending my first year of law school on a high note and spending the summer studying in Europe, I hit the downward slope big time in my second year. 9/11, not getting a call back from The Firm I Was Destined To Work For, getting a call back and an offer from a firm equally as great as The Firm (and better in most people's minds--including Forbes) but never being completely comfortable with it, my parents struggling mightily in their 30+ year marriage, living in a house that was one big allergen--UGH. I decided to work on my attitude. I made a great orzo salad with shrimp and feta and pine nuts and I went for a walk.
I hate exercising. Hate. It. So, the fact that I took a walk around the neighborhood was big. And that night, I had a hive on my thigh.
In the shower the next morning, I noticed several more hives on my thigh in addition to some developing on my arms. It was the exercise, I joked. I always knew I was allergic to exercise. Julie forbade me from eating any more of my delicious orzo due to all the possible causes in it. It probably cost my food budget for a month--but, I had to throw the rest away.
I took benedryl and they only got worse. I went to the health center; they gave me what is famous on campus as being the "pink pill." It had to be sugar. I finally went back and got a referral to an allergist. All of that took about 1 1/2 weeks--the whole time, I'm covered in hives.
Julie came to Mom and Dad's for a weekend, so I went up as well. As we were returning to their house from Atlanta, I mentioned that part of lip was numb. I was also feeling a little wheezy. That got me my first prescription for an epi-pen.
I finally went to the doc who's accent was so thick that I honestly had a very hard time understanding him. He ran some tests and started me on the lovely drug protocol. 1 Zyrtec, one pepcid and 10 mg of prednisone in the am. 1 Zyrtec in the pm. Needless to say, I slept. And still had hives. All the tests came back negative for anything with a name--no new allergies, no lupus, etc. It just showed that I have a weakened autoimmune system. We changed it one Allegra in the am instead of the Zyrtec and upped the prednisone to 20 mg.
Now, when I'm not sleeping, I'm eating. And I still have hives. Finally, we up it to 30 mg of prednisone and added one of those medicines for osteoperosis (like the one that Sally Field is now advertising).
No more hives. Instead, it's extreme hunger, weight gain, aggression, and sweating. Good grief!
In the middle of all of this, we went to Orlando for spring break. We were heading to a party with some of M's grad school friends, and boy did we owe him. He had been to more than his share of law school parties, so we were happy to return the favor. A and I went to the restroom after dinner before heading to the party and I asked if my eyes looked swollen to her. It looked as if I had water blisters under my eyes. Oh god--
Within an hour of so, my eyes were practically swollen shut and half of my bottom lip was swollen. There was a Will Smith movie not too long ago where he had a similar reaction. There I sat at this party--we were icing my eyes and telling everyone I got in a fight--and I looked like a freak of nature.
The next night, we were downtown and I just remember my ass itching off. I went to the restroom and my butt was literally COVERED with hives. Between that and A & M getting in a fight, I was just ready to go home that night.
Soon thereafter began the sweating--oh lord the sweating. I would get to class and be freaking out because I was just dripping in sweat. A would force feed me water and fan me, but nothing would help the sweating. I started having to wear black every day since I would sweat through everything else.
By the time I started work that summer, I had put on 30 pounds from the time I interviewed. And I sweated--all the time. Is it any wonder I didn't get a job? One day, I had on a silk shirt, so I had stuffed some toilet paper in my pits in hopes of not ruining my shirt. Shortly thereafter, another summer associate came by my office and asked if I could help him figure something out on the computer. I went in his office and checked it out. As I headed back to my space, I saw the wadded up toilet paper in the hall. Nice one.
Anyway, they never really figured out what caused the hives. I'm obviously prone to such reactions, and I think the stress was too much. By the time I started my third year, I didn't have a job, a clue what I wanted to do or the GPA I started my second year with, but my parents seemed to be ready to make it work and I wasn't saddled with a job I was going to hate. After a horrible summer of tapering off the roids and suffering in the polluted city, I moved into one new space--and then another--and enjoyed getting to know my new dog. I took the anniversary of 9/11 off and mourned as I could not the year before. I bought some fat girl clothes and slowly stopped sweating so badly. I tried to have some fun and savor my last months of freedom and weekday shopping.
I'm still not sure what the lesson of the hives was supposed to be. Maybe that I need to quit internalizing everyone else's troubles and expectations. Maybe it's that I need to follow my gut when I'm making decisions. Maybe it was that an entire box of cereal is too much to eat in one sitting--especially if you're sitting in your bed at 10:30.
Every now and then, I have a hive first thing in the morning and I'm filled with a sense of dread. However, so far (knock on wood), I've only had one swollen lip and no big outbreak of hives. I can't really say I miss them, but they sure did give us a lot of laughs in a year that was not very funny.
After ending my first year of law school on a high note and spending the summer studying in Europe, I hit the downward slope big time in my second year. 9/11, not getting a call back from The Firm I Was Destined To Work For, getting a call back and an offer from a firm equally as great as The Firm (and better in most people's minds--including Forbes) but never being completely comfortable with it, my parents struggling mightily in their 30+ year marriage, living in a house that was one big allergen--UGH. I decided to work on my attitude. I made a great orzo salad with shrimp and feta and pine nuts and I went for a walk.
I hate exercising. Hate. It. So, the fact that I took a walk around the neighborhood was big. And that night, I had a hive on my thigh.
In the shower the next morning, I noticed several more hives on my thigh in addition to some developing on my arms. It was the exercise, I joked. I always knew I was allergic to exercise. Julie forbade me from eating any more of my delicious orzo due to all the possible causes in it. It probably cost my food budget for a month--but, I had to throw the rest away.
I took benedryl and they only got worse. I went to the health center; they gave me what is famous on campus as being the "pink pill." It had to be sugar. I finally went back and got a referral to an allergist. All of that took about 1 1/2 weeks--the whole time, I'm covered in hives.
Julie came to Mom and Dad's for a weekend, so I went up as well. As we were returning to their house from Atlanta, I mentioned that part of lip was numb. I was also feeling a little wheezy. That got me my first prescription for an epi-pen.
I finally went to the doc who's accent was so thick that I honestly had a very hard time understanding him. He ran some tests and started me on the lovely drug protocol. 1 Zyrtec, one pepcid and 10 mg of prednisone in the am. 1 Zyrtec in the pm. Needless to say, I slept. And still had hives. All the tests came back negative for anything with a name--no new allergies, no lupus, etc. It just showed that I have a weakened autoimmune system. We changed it one Allegra in the am instead of the Zyrtec and upped the prednisone to 20 mg.
Now, when I'm not sleeping, I'm eating. And I still have hives. Finally, we up it to 30 mg of prednisone and added one of those medicines for osteoperosis (like the one that Sally Field is now advertising).
No more hives. Instead, it's extreme hunger, weight gain, aggression, and sweating. Good grief!
In the middle of all of this, we went to Orlando for spring break. We were heading to a party with some of M's grad school friends, and boy did we owe him. He had been to more than his share of law school parties, so we were happy to return the favor. A and I went to the restroom after dinner before heading to the party and I asked if my eyes looked swollen to her. It looked as if I had water blisters under my eyes. Oh god--
Within an hour of so, my eyes were practically swollen shut and half of my bottom lip was swollen. There was a Will Smith movie not too long ago where he had a similar reaction. There I sat at this party--we were icing my eyes and telling everyone I got in a fight--and I looked like a freak of nature.
The next night, we were downtown and I just remember my ass itching off. I went to the restroom and my butt was literally COVERED with hives. Between that and A & M getting in a fight, I was just ready to go home that night.
Soon thereafter began the sweating--oh lord the sweating. I would get to class and be freaking out because I was just dripping in sweat. A would force feed me water and fan me, but nothing would help the sweating. I started having to wear black every day since I would sweat through everything else.
By the time I started work that summer, I had put on 30 pounds from the time I interviewed. And I sweated--all the time. Is it any wonder I didn't get a job? One day, I had on a silk shirt, so I had stuffed some toilet paper in my pits in hopes of not ruining my shirt. Shortly thereafter, another summer associate came by my office and asked if I could help him figure something out on the computer. I went in his office and checked it out. As I headed back to my space, I saw the wadded up toilet paper in the hall. Nice one.
Anyway, they never really figured out what caused the hives. I'm obviously prone to such reactions, and I think the stress was too much. By the time I started my third year, I didn't have a job, a clue what I wanted to do or the GPA I started my second year with, but my parents seemed to be ready to make it work and I wasn't saddled with a job I was going to hate. After a horrible summer of tapering off the roids and suffering in the polluted city, I moved into one new space--and then another--and enjoyed getting to know my new dog. I took the anniversary of 9/11 off and mourned as I could not the year before. I bought some fat girl clothes and slowly stopped sweating so badly. I tried to have some fun and savor my last months of freedom and weekday shopping.
I'm still not sure what the lesson of the hives was supposed to be. Maybe that I need to quit internalizing everyone else's troubles and expectations. Maybe it's that I need to follow my gut when I'm making decisions. Maybe it was that an entire box of cereal is too much to eat in one sitting--especially if you're sitting in your bed at 10:30.
Every now and then, I have a hive first thing in the morning and I'm filled with a sense of dread. However, so far (knock on wood), I've only had one swollen lip and no big outbreak of hives. I can't really say I miss them, but they sure did give us a lot of laughs in a year that was not very funny.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Not exactly what I envisioned
I decided that I would go to law school when it became apparent that I could not make it on Broadway. I figured that I would act in the courtroom instead of on the stage. When I envisioned my legal career, it included wearing beautiful suits and arguing in front of a judge or closing some big deal in a big fancy conference room.
Then I went to law school. My vision of practicing law at that point included sitting at a desk most of the day researching and writing. It still included getting in front of a judge every now and then, but most of my visions included me sitting at a desk.
I had a job the summer after my second year of law school that actually combined my two visions. I hated the job. I didn't necessarily hate the work--I didn't think-- but during my third year of law school, when I tried to envision what I would be doing in a few short months, I drew a blank.
I can assure you, that in none of those visions or dreams did I ever envision a day like today.
I spent most of the morning finalizing a brief I've been working on this week. That goes along with my vision of life as a lawyer. However, just as we were getting lunch, all hell broke loose.
Part of our practice involves helping incapacitated adults. One of them has been progressively deteriorating and he became threatening today. We ended up calling 911 and after being restrained by six police men with tasers, he was rolled out on a stretcher to be committed.
That's not exactly what I envisioned.
Then I went to law school. My vision of practicing law at that point included sitting at a desk most of the day researching and writing. It still included getting in front of a judge every now and then, but most of my visions included me sitting at a desk.
I had a job the summer after my second year of law school that actually combined my two visions. I hated the job. I didn't necessarily hate the work--I didn't think-- but during my third year of law school, when I tried to envision what I would be doing in a few short months, I drew a blank.
I can assure you, that in none of those visions or dreams did I ever envision a day like today.
I spent most of the morning finalizing a brief I've been working on this week. That goes along with my vision of life as a lawyer. However, just as we were getting lunch, all hell broke loose.
Part of our practice involves helping incapacitated adults. One of them has been progressively deteriorating and he became threatening today. We ended up calling 911 and after being restrained by six police men with tasers, he was rolled out on a stretcher to be committed.
That's not exactly what I envisioned.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Randomness
- Did anybody else TIVO President Ford's funeral? No? Just me? Ok.
- I survived not only the virus of death that managed to close our office on Friday morning, but also two tornadoes in three days hitting my little town. Etta and rode out the one last night in my "basement," a/k/a really tall crawl space, with my laptop streaming live video of the news
- They have finished their filming of "October Road." Apparently, there are some college fraternity stories involved. I went in to the local lunch place to pick up our called in orders several weeks ago, and they were slammed. Sitting at the counter--right next to the cash register--were three of the male stars. I've looked them all up and none of them were really recognizable. One has recurred on "Seventh Heaven," one of the few shows on television that I've never really watched. Another had a credit for that Eminem movie. Some typical (for my hometown) soccer mom who is swimming in the shallow end walked up to them and asked if they were with the "movie." They said yes and she proceeded to ask who was in it. "You know, we all want to see the famous people." They told her that they were the male actors filming today and then the 7th Heaven guy apologized for disappointing her. They were very nice and enjoyed hearing that the house in which they had filmed the frat party belongs to our former mayorwho once shot his neighbor's burglar alarm off of the house because it kept going off while they were on vacation.
- Is it wrong that my dog lies perfectly still while I fast forward something on TIVO, but when I delete something, she jumps up and runs to get in the bed? Or that my nephew's favorite song is the General Hospital theme?
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Christmas 2006
Things about Christmas 2006 I would like to forget:
- Waking up on 12/22 and throwing up from taking too much cough medicine
- Going to work anyway and throwing up at work
- Having to ask my dad to drive down to pick up my grandparents and myself
- Taking Etta out 4 times during that night to have soup ass
- Getting incredibly frustrated because my mother made a few, non-fatal mistakes in the grocery shopping
- Getting frustrated and snapping at my grandmother on Christmas Eve at lunch
- Waking up Christmas morning with no power
- Pop-aw's "episode" on Christmas night
- Getting a call from my dad that Etta was throwing up blood
- Getting up 3 times with Etta on 12/26 to have soup ass
- Hearing and seeing Will say "Sissy" and knowing he knew it was me
- Having my 85 and 82 year old grandparents present and healthy for yet another
Christmas - Cooking with my grandmother and learning yet another secret to her famous dressing
- My sister's exclamations of joy upon biting into the Christmas Eve tenderloin
- Will's OCD and excitement over his new car on Christmas morning
- Will's new ability to give hugs and his impeccable timing in giving me one as I opened my present from him--and seeing how it affected my dad
- Carrying out the traditions of Christmas morning for the 31st year of my life
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