Although I’m sure quite a lot of you know quite a lot of these.  Anyway, it’s a less than stellar day today so in between naps I figured I’d steal this from Facebook and use it here!

60 Things You Can’t Possibly Know About Me

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
No car.

2. When was the last time you threw up?
About 27 minutes ago.

3. What’s your favorite word or phrase?
Squiffy.

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
This sounds so pathetic, but I haven’t smiled yet today.  I should.  As Jennifer would tell me, “they’re free”.

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Sleeping.

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
See number 2.

8. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Yes.

9. What is the last thing you said aloud?
“A plain bagel, please.”

10. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food.

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Water.

12. What are you wearing right now?
Pink terry cloth pants and a giant white t-shirt.

13. What was the last thing you ate?
Brown toast.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
I bought Larry a tie yesterday.

15. When was the last time you ran?
Years ago, before I couldn’t anymore.  Hard to believe now but I was up to 3 miles with Larry.

16. What’s the last sporting event you watched?
The ExxonMobil Bislett Games.

17. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I’m happy in my own home right this very minute.

19. Ever go camping?
Absolutely not.  As my father likes to quote (me): “I fricking hate nature.”

20. Have you ever lost anything down a toilet?
My phone went for a swim once.

22. What is your guilty pleasure?
What isn’t?  I love to read teen fiction, and watch sappy chick flicks, and will flip through any magazine ever printed.  And eat chocolate while doing all of these things.

23. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
Always.

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
Sometimes when my arms are weak.  And for about a week after I go to the dentist but then that enthusiasm starts to drop.

25. What did your last text message say?
I was alerting Laurence that I had gotten sick.

26. Are you someone’s best friend?
Yes.

27. What are you doing tomorrow?
No plans.

28. Where is your mom right now?
At her house, I assume.

29. Look to your left, what do you see?
A coffee table, a fake fireplace, my TV.

30. What color is your watch?
Pink.

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia?
Eric Bana.  (Sorry, had to.)

32. Ever ridden on a roller coaster?
Yes.  A small one that Rob tried to tell me was “tiny” and then really wasn’t.

33. Birthstone?
Pearl.  So disappointing.

34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive through?
No car, no drive through.

35. Do you have any friends on Facebook that you actually hate?
No.

36. Do you have a dog?
No. I’m not fond of dogs.

37. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Larry.

38. Have you met anyone famous?
Yes.

39. Any plans today?
Rest.

40. From whom did you get this?
Stole it from Facebook.

41. Are you happy?

I try to be.

42. Where are you right now?
Living room.

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
Health.

44. Last song listened to?
The Ting Ting’s “That’s Not My Name” was just on TV.

45. Last movie you saw?
Watched The Reader on DVD and tried not to watch Air Force One on TV.

46. Are you allergic to anything?
Too much.

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
Merrell Encore Grooves.

48. Are you jealous of anyone?
Not really.

49. Are you married?
Yes.

50. Is anyone jealous of you?
Not that I know of.

51. What time is it?
12:34 GMT.

52. Do any of your friends have children?
Yes.

53. Do you eat healthy?
Of course I do, I live with Larry.  There’s a stockpile of poached salmon right now!

54. What do you usually do during the day?
Write, rest, run errands, read.

55. Do you hate anyone right now?
No.

56. Do you use the word ‘hello’ daily?

When answering the phone.

57. How many kids do you want when you’re older?
As many as I’m meant to have.

58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
Thirty.

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
Yes.

60. How did you get one of your scars?
Thymectomy.

No, Larry does not have an autoimmune condition – I think I’ve got enough for both of us, thank you very much.  But he’s most definitely in an autoimmune marriage. And not to toot my own horn, but I picked really well back at the ripe old age of 18. I knew he was an amazing guy then, and I have a decade’s worth of proof now. Since I “got sick” (I hate that phrase, but in this case I mean it – from the start of this long road back when I had mono/glandular fever) he’s picked up the slack left, right and centre.  If I needed something he got it for me.  If I hated something he got rid of it for me.  If I had no idea what I wanted he helped me figure it out.  And when he needed or wanted something, we figured out together how to get it done.

That’s not to say that life has been peachy every single second of the last few years. The changes that come with a chronic condition, much less more than one, are hard and scary and, if you let them, could easily shatter every dream you’ve ever held. There are tears, my friends, many tears. But we wipe them away and take it one step at a time, and sometimes when we do look up and look around we’re amazed at where we are.  Sometimes in a good way, and sometimes not, but at least we’re there together.

Recently I was filling out a Myasthenia Gravis Medication Information Card and Larry started teasing me because I couldn’t fit everything onto the lines provided.  Then he stopped laughing and said “Jesus, who would have thought we’d ever get here?” I wasn’t sure what to say, but I focused on the fact that he said “we”.  It seemed like a profound moment.  Then I heard from behind me “I want chicken.  Do you want some chicken?  Do we have any chicken?”  It was my autoimmune marriage fit into 30 seconds.

Rob Thomas released “Her Diamonds” a little while ago and it’s become something of an autoimmune anthem.  He’s been supporting his wife for years as she struggled with an autoimmune condition similar to lupus, and this song discusses not only her pain but his pain at not being able to help her.  Every line resonates with me. But I hope that Rob, and Larry, and every other partner to someone with an autoimmune condition out there knows that the line “I can’t help her now’ is totally false.

You help just by being there.

More than you’ll ever know.

I haven’t gone out very often by myself yet, it’s too easy to get tired, I can’t carry anything anyway and I don’t want people bumping into me, not to mention it’s still warm and sticky so working up an extra sweat is doubly uncomfortable, but I did go out to get DVDs by myself last Friday.  I took the LUAS to minimise the potential for tripping on uneven sidewalks (sadly, something that affects me almost constantly) and on the way back got into a nearly empty carriage.  Empty until a goth kid complete with black leather trench, mile-high boots and chains and/or spikes hanging all over, decided to sit down right next to me.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m in an almost empty public place and someone decides to sit down right next to me it makes me think twice.  It’s breaking societal norms, people, so it leaves me wondering what exactly that person wants.  It could be as innocent as a seat in the sun, who’s to say, but it’s still a little weird and the fact that this kid was easily 6′ and had metal music clanging out of his skull earphones made it weirder.

So I sat there and tried to ignore him and when we got to the next stop a rush of people entered.  Goth kid stretched out his long legs and everyone flowed around them, a very safe distance from me.  Not too shabby.  Goth kid was helpful as a giant.  Who was to know?  We rode in silence a little longer until my stop.  I gathered my bag and scooted forward so that I could grip the rail and haul myself out of my seat.  As I did that, Goth kid sprang up, cleared a path to the door and nodded for me to use it.  I said thank you and he said “I hope you feel better soon”.

I caught a reflection of myself as the LUAS went by and my t-shirt left a few inches of angry red scar showing.  I can only figure that Goth kid saw it and in his own way came to my aid.  If I’d been thinking I would have told him he was a very sweet young man.  And to lose the chains.

Another one to scratch off my 101 Things In 1001 Days list:

54.  Finish a Sublime Stitching pattern.

I chose a couple of dish towels.  Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

A few hours ago the bottom of my laptop felt hot so I propped it up using an empty eyeglasses case.

A little while later I realised the case wasn’t empty.  Damn.

I re-propped with a DVD case.

A little while later a melty plasticy smell caught my attention.

OhJesusLordMotherMary this has been a long week.

I recently told someone I use hairspray medicinally.

Then I had to clarify that I meant watching Hairspray, not huffing hairspray.

Surprisingly, that person seemed to need the clarification.

It’s not been a great few days, so to combat the very, very negative post I want to write I’ll try to focus on the positives.

Positive:  Only a few more hours and then Larry and I have two days to hang out.

Positive: Asparagus, goats cheese and lemon pasta from Smitten Kitchen is on the menu tonight.

Positive: I’ve got a kit from Sublime Stitching that I’m planning to start if my small muscle coordination cooperates.

Positive: I got my free meds refill and both chemists told me I was looking good.

Positive: Nurse Jackie.  Really kind of liking this character.

Positive: The forecast for the weekend is sunny, so Laurence and I can walk around and be summery in the city, perhaps with a frapuccino.

Positive: I ordered books from Play.com one evening this week and they shipped the next morning.

Positive: Cherries are half-price at M&S.

Positive: Raspberries are not half-price at M&S but they are delicious.

Positive: Honeymoon in Tehran is amazing.  Definitely recommended.

Positive: Not much sunlight, which means a good nap can’t be far away.

Ooh!  Double ooh!  Triple ooh!

(Please, no negative comments.  Just let me have this one.)

Ireland is a country that is fantastic at fundraising.  Seriously, it’s this nation’s niche. From street collections to Denim Days, coffee mornings to pub quizzes, mini-marathons to gala balls, somehow the Irish find a way to take a nice act of charity and turn it into a social event that gives back.  And I would say medical fundraising is the specialty.  All it takes is a brief mention of a family having a hard time on the nightly news and the next morning’s news carries details of the family’s new fundraising bank account to which donations can be made.  And donations ARE made.  That’s the part that gets me every time.

But amongst all the tales of fundraising fun, I have a new favourite:  The ‘dip in the nip’ that took place in Co. Sligo.  Well done ladies, well done.

(My favourite part?  They went in at low tide!)