The chances of me seeing Erika, Jay & Sammy tomorrow are now looking very slim. Not only were they just sick, but now? I can’t breathe through my nose. My eyes itch. I’m coughing. Oh, and I have to get on a plane in less than 24 hours. My head is going to explode, mid-flight.

I thought it was just allergies until yesterday. At the Tremont, they had feather pillows on the bed. I don’t do feather pillows, but I didn’t bother to call the front desk and ask for foam ones. I figured two nights, it would be ok.

When I woke up on Sunday, I felt like crap. So did a number of other people there at the retreat. So again, blame the allergies. It was finally sunny after days of rain, and that seems to mess with everyone.

Yesterday? I finally started to accept that it wasn’t allergies. So last night, in a desperate hunt for a decongestant, I finally gave in and took 1 Dayquil. (They are from last year, so they still have the decongestant in them.) I only took ONE, not the recommended two. I was afraid they would make me wired.

I went to sleep sometime after 4:00 am, and only then because I forced myself to sleep. I tried not to stare at the clock, but it might have been closer to 5:00 when I finally drifted off. I was awake by 9:15 am, so now I am spacy, congested, but tired? Oh no. Not tired.

UGH.

I’m SO excited! For so many reasons too. Here are just a few of them:

- Fresh Photography now has online ordering. All thanks to the ScriptyGoddess, Jenn, who we hired to make it all pretty and functional for us. Wheee! Want a print? You can easily order them now!

- More prizes have been donated to the Pointy Sticks Podcastiversary contest! Want a chance or two or more to win? Check out the show for details!

- We head out of town later this week for the wedding of one of Mike’s high school friends, and since we will be up in New England and near Boston, I am going to see Sammy! (Along with Erika and Jay - but I’m really psyched about meeting Sammy!) Update: Ok, I wrote this before I read about Pukefest 2007 going on at their house. I have a feeling this plan is up in the air right now, so I’ll be winging it depending on how they are feeling.

- Taking full advantage of the trip, Mike & I are also planning to get our knit on with Guido and some of the other Boston area knitters, including Grumperina Giddy, giddy, giddy!

It amuses me to no end that my site has become a forum for itchy people. Over time, this post has received over 725 comments, and it gets more every day or so. Seriously.

The comments now have nothing to do with my original post. I was talking about having allergy testing done, and how my arms were driving me crazy afterwards for the next few days.

Now, all of these people are taking it a completely different direction, since they have the itch, but it is due to a medical condition that is quite a mystery. I’ve considered closing down the comments, but so many people use it and it makes them happy, why bother? I thought about setting up a real forum for them, but I hate moderating forums. Akismet catches the comment spam, so that makes life easy. Sometimes I have to approve their comments that end up in moderation, but it is no big deal.

It just cracked me up to see the latest one today. They have gotten together and made a survey. “We will repeat this message in a shorter form once in a while for new contributors on Pink Cookie to see.”

I don’t think they have any idea that this site is a blog, and that it continues to grow around them. They are in their own little world, scratching away and looking for help.

Even though I had to record the first part of the show twice (Audacity ate my files!), I think that the latest podcast might just be the best show ever. Check it out and let me know what you think! Pointy Sticks - Episode 13, The Pink Show.

I did a guest chat with Staci which makes up most of the show, and it amuses me to no end. We had a great time doing it, and I really think it shows! We will definitely be doing more of those. The craziness! What fun!

Tomorrow I get to go to Galveston for a knitting retreat at the fabulous Tremont House. The same hotel where we had our wedding reception, so I love that place. But the BIG part of the retreat? Our classes on Saturday & Sunday are being taught by NANCY BUSH!

NANCY BUSH!!!

(Author of Knitting Vintage Socks: New Twists on Classic Patterns and Knitting on the Road, for the non-knitters here.)

I’m so giddy already - and it hasn’t even started yet. On top of meeting and learning from Nancy Bush, I am going to hopefully interview her too! Wheeee!

There are more details over at PointySticks, along with early details on the upcoming contest for the 1 year anniversary of the show. Check it out!

It makes me feel a little warm and fuzzy to know that my blog is part of the Library of Congress September 11th archive. Blogging changed for me in many ways that day, and how I “saw” the news was primarily through blogs for the weeks and months after that. Don’t get me wrong, I watched the news and read news sites, but I got a personal feel for the events from other bloggers.

Site found thanks to SearchMash and a search for my name.

Caro is going to be on the teevee tomorrow on Uncommon Threads with her crafty bucket! It will be on the HGTV Uncommon Threads, which airs at … oh, heck. I have no clue. My Tivo is set to pick it up. And while the host of the show has a voice that makes me want to stick DPNs in my eyes (those are double pointed knitting needles for you non-knitterly types), I will watch it just to see Caro. Because Caro? She ROCKS.

Fresh cut and color!

Originally uploaded by Christine (bpc).

By the way, in case you didn’t know that I’m posting all the knitting stuff over there now, there is a post about the Faith Jacket finally over at Pointy Sticks. In case you were curious.

I said before that I would post about my “Five at a Time” plan, but really - there isn’t much to say about it. Basically, my theory was that when I say that I want to lose a large amount of weight - say 50 pounds - it sounds like such a HUGE number. It seems impossible to achieve. But if I say I want to lose 5 pounds this month, that sounds easier to do, right? Then every month, I get a fresh start. Didn’t make the 5 pounds for January? It is ok. Don’t give up. February is a new month, you get to start all over again. 5 pounds. That is all you have to focus on.

It doesn’t sound like a lot to lose. People want to lose 10-15-20 pounds per month. Thing is, that sort of weight loss is proven not to last. It is much better for you - and more likely to stay off - if you lose 1-2 pounds per week. Or 5 pounds per month.

Nothing revolutionary, but it changes my way of thinking. I can make the lifestyle changes I need to make to lose 5 pounds a month. You can too. Just pick your “method” of choice and go for it. I’m going to Weight Watchers meetings, and it is keeping me motivated.

I didn’t stick with it when I said I wanted to do it back in 2005. My friend, Syd did it though. And her results? Fabulous. This year? This year is going to be my year. I’m going to do it. Want to join me? Let me know. Maybe we’ll get another Yahoo! group started so we can cheer each other on.

I just dealt with sales tax forms and the government. I’m just grumbling a lot right now. There is a backstory, but dinner is almost ready so it will have to wait.

Yesterday was the Flickr Assignment: Houston meetup. We met at Empire Cafe on Westheimer, because Westheimer was the “theme” for this month’s assignment. I love Assignment: Houston. It is a great chance to go out and see parts of Houston that you might not otherwise visit, or see with fresh eyes parts of the city that you already know. Shooting with a group is always interesting, especially as you spot the details others are noticing. The weather sucked for it, and I am still trying to figure out Photoshop enough to adjust the colors correctly now. Well, I want to be figuring out Photoshop, but instead I’m dealing with the state.

Man, I felt chipper for a moment as I thought about the meetup. Then the whole sales tax stuff came up again and now I’m grumbly. I think it is time to eat and then knit.

Silkwood scarf

Originally uploaded by Christine (bpc).

Big news part 1 - in case you didn’t catch it, I didn’t mention anything about classes starting for me this week - or any time in the next few months. I was having a “what should I major in?” crisis by the end of last semester, so Mike & I agreed that rather than spending money on classes I might end up not needing, I would just take Photography II this semester and focus on Jason because of the rough fall semester he had. My grade in Trig tanked mid-semester as I started to spend every evening focused on him. Helping him out is what is most important right now, but I can’t risk doing that to my own grades again if I ever want to get into the Pharmacy program - I need good grades.

So Photo II alone was the plan, and I was pretty happy with that decision.

Then I went to see Dr. Shoulder last week. He is part of the same practice as Dr. Hand. In early January, I saw Dr. Hand for my surgery follow-up appointment, and I mentioned that when all of this began back in July, 2005, it was in part because I was having a lot of pain in my right shoulder. Constant, burning pain, that I still have over a year and a half later. He suggested I make an appointment with Dr. Shoulder to check it out. (I’m not sure why, since Dr. Hand did my Dad’s shoulder surgery, and that was part of why I went to him in the first place, but whatever.)

So I went in to see Dr. Shoulder, and went through the usual round of questions. Where does it hurt? Burning, aching, throbbing or stabbing pain? (In the front at the joint and at the bottom of the shoulder blade, and all types of pain, but the burn is constant.) Can you lift your arm this way? That way? How about over your head and behind your back all while jumping on one foot? (Oh, ok, there was no jumping. But you get the picture.) We went over the fact that I had a cortisone injection which didn’t help, took anti-inflammatory meds which didn’t help, and went to physical therapy which didn’t help.

The final verdict was I could either have an MRI to look for the problems and then have the surgery, or I could just book the surgery. In addition to the burning pain which is most likely the result of small tears in the rotator area, or where the tendons and ligaments connect the bones together, I have gritty, grindy popping sounds and some bursitis showing up on my x-rays. Surgery is scheduled for February 12th, and we’re skipping the MRI because the small tears might not even show up on it anyways.

What does any of this have to do with school? Well, it seems that since part of my surgery involves repairs of tears, they will need healing time. Healing time means no lifting anything. I asked him if I was going to be able to lift a camera, and he said maybe to take a photo - but not to go and do a full photo hunt like I would need to do if I was in a photography class. Also, if I was in school, I would need to wait until the summer most likely to do the surgery so I had time to recover and to go to physical therapy. All in all, it just wasn’t going to work well together, and so I didn’t register for my class.

It is a bummer, but the class can wait. I’m so tired of this burning pain, I can’t wait to get it fixed. Honestly, I hate having surgery, but it is just sad when the pain reaches a point that it is the norm because it is so constant.

Everyone asks how I did it. Who knows? The doctor said that the popping & bursitis can be hereditary, or could be from swimming competitively or from waiting tables and carrying heavy trays. The intense burning really became worse after we went to the Frio in 2005; the river was low and the people we went with insisted on paddling with our hands to move down it faster instead of slowly floating. I was in such pain while we were on the river, I ended up falling way behind and was in tears from the agony of it all. Prior to that, I had pain, but it was never constant until then that I can remember. Now it never goes away, it wakes me up at night, and it just sucks.

(I’m still working on editing more photos which will eventually make it over on Flickr - so watch the thumbnails at the top of the page! - or over on PointySticks.)