Drunk Prancing

You know what is awesome about traveling with a great friend? She gets mad when you have a sip of her drink and writes on your arm like this:

What isn’t awesome is explaining eleventy billion times that YOU AREN’T GAY. Even when you do things like this. (lol) Sigh.

I am still utterly exhausted and worn out. The thought of a wrap-up post is overwhelming. But, we met an Osmond. AN OSMOND.

We were rickrolled.

We saw amazingly beautiful things.

And we got really really sweaty. In a cave that was approximately eleventy billion degrees.

You can see the rest of my vacation photos here.

So yeah. I’m here. Don’t hate.

Bon voyage to me and Dana!

I am still suffering from round 2 of the allergy tests. On the bright side, I finally found out what I’m allergic to: 3 types of trees, 2 types of mold and 1 type of grass. Plus, I have non-allergic rihinitis. On the other hand, I’m having a delayed reaction to some of the allergens, most likely the molds, and am ITCHY LIKE A MOFO. I have raised welts on my left arm. The nurse told me today just to keep treating them with benadryl and hydrocortisone and she promised that they would go away, lol. I just hope the hives go away soon because they are icky and I AM GOING ON VACATION IN FIVE DAYS.

The weekend was pretty low key, mainly because it was so damn hot. WC and I went to the drive in Saturday night to see The Expendables and Dinner with Schmucks. I took a nap Saturday afternoon and woke up in a cranky ass mood and not at all rested. It wasn’t a very fun evening until we got to the drive in, at least.

Yesterday, we had dinner at Fogo de Chao. Holy meat orgy. If you’ve never been to a Brazillian steakhouse, basically the waiters walk around with skewers of meat. So much meat. WC didn’t eat at all in preparation for dinner, lol. It was insanity. Sweet delicious insanity.

Now, I’m pretty much just counting down until VACATION! Squeee!

I was jabbed with 36 little needles today but it was all worth it in the end: we found out that I have allergies to three types of trees, 2 types of mold and 1 type of grass. So the trees are in the spring, the grass is after that and the mold is year-round. I also have non-allergic rhinitis, which means that things like dust, smoke, spicy foods, even booze can bring on symptoms (and they all do). No allergy shots yet — we’re going to see if a combination of my antihistamine and two types of nasal spray will do the trick. I was relieved to actually find out what my issue is. At first nothing was reacting, so she thought it was just the non-allergic rhinitis. Then, wham! All these welts popped up on my arm. I’m still itchy — it will be a benadryl night. Wheeeeee.

Phish was pretty much horrible. I’d like to forget everything that I saw last night. *shudder*

Day seven of no allergy meds and this shit is getting old. I woke up this morning with puffy eyes. Ugh. I was pretty blah today. Not being able to breathe is bringing me down!

Those of you who have been with me for a while will remember my last boyfriend, J. One of the last times I heard from J was a little more than a year ago, when he texted me that his friend was not only moving into my apartment building but onto my floor.

Well, I eventually saw a guy that I thought might be his friend (I was never introduced to him) but I wasn’t sure. This morning, I was waiting for the elevator when this guy came out of his apartment. I said something to him and, sure enough, he had the Texas twang. Judging from how he’s looked at me in the past, I’m pretty sure he knows who I am. I thought about asking about J but, eh, I don’t know want to know that badly. I also don’t want him calling me again after more than a year of radio silence!!!

A week from Sunday is the cruise … ahhhhhh. I’m sure I’ll start packing way ahead of time, then wonder why I don’t have any clothes to wear to work, lol. I’m so excited … now to just stay busy enough on the boat that I don’t miss WC … and that Dana doesn’t bitch slap me for whining that I miss him.

This weekend was kind of a blur. Friday afternoon, I picked up my new glasses from the optometrist (cuuuuuuute!) then drove over to the west side for a going-away party for one of WC’s coworkers. (We’ve hung out with her and her husband a few times.) It was at some bar that had 100 oz beers called “fuel tankers.” It was genius. It’s like a tap for your table. Of course we ordered one of those. (I think it took 5 or 6 of us to drink it.) 100 oz of Coors Light for $14! lol!

Needless to say, we were there for a while. Eventually, we went back to WC’s place. We weren’t up too terribly late, as we had to get up by 7:30 in order to make it to the State Fair by 9. That was a LONG day. I don’t think we left the fairgrounds until 5:30, and then we got dinner with WC’s parents and their friends. It was exhausting! It seemed like we only saw about half of the fair; we kept going back and forth in the same areas. I wouldn’t mind going again just to see what we missed. WC’s parents are really nice. They seem to like me too. Yay!

Sunday was REALLY a blur. We slept in late, got some lunch and made our way back to my place. At some point, we thought it was a good idea to do a shot of tequila. (It’s been like a month since we’ve had tequila!) One shot, fine. Four shots, on a school night? Ugggggggh. Neither one of us remembers what happened after we went to bed, so I assume we just fell asleep, lol.

This week, I only have to wait until Thursday to see him, as I’m going to the Phish concert with him. Ugggggggh. Not my music. At. All.

So, today, I paid $422 for allergy tests that told me … not a freaking thing. UGH.

That’s right, I was poked with about 30 allergens (it was virtually painless) and NOT A ONE REACTED, except the control. OMFG. I was itchy in spots but no welts. So, I’m going back on Friday for more sensitive testing … that involves a lot more needles. Boooo.

I was reading online about the upcoming test and saw something interesting — the test I had today is less effective in adults over 20 and not very effective at all after the age of 30. Booooo.

Fortunately, the doctor does believe that I have allergies, it’s just that I am not “highly allergic.” So he thinks this other test will help pinpoint treatment, otherwise it will just be a shot in the dark. They were able to squeeze me in this week, because he’s concerned about ragweed season starting very soon.

It was pretty frustrating that this test revealed nothing, especially since I had to pay so much in order to meet my deductible. I’m really hoping I find out something concrete Friday, although I don’t want my arms really to be covered in itchy welts!

Today was my 2 yr follow up with my bariatric clinic. I’ve lost 69% of my excess weight. A good result is 60 to 80%, so I’m right on. I’ve also maintained my weight for the last 6 months, so I’m allowed to drink wine, lol. Well, according to my surgeon’s PA, not the dietician.

Bottom line, everything is looking good and I know what I need to maintain as well as lose weight. Really, if I never lost another pound, I’d be satisfied. Over and over again today I heard, “You’re doing great, I don’t want you to think otherwise!” I must have putting out the “But I can do better!” vibe. That’s kind of a fault of mine, never being satisfied. Everything can always be better, especially me!

Along that vein, I am still contemplating therapy, lol. More than one of the people at the bariatric clinic have commented that we need to work on my head. The guy today scolded me for feeling guilty when I make a poor choice. He told me to just accept it and move on. Umm, have you met me? LOL Considering how disastrously my last experience with counseling ended, though, I’ll probably ask the staff psychologist for a referral to someone well-versed in bariatric/addiction issues.

I can’t wait for Friday evening to get here. The weeks seem so long and I miss my WC. I enjoyed a few nights alone this week but now, I’m just like, freaking COME ON. This weekend may be a struggle, though, since we’ll be at the State Fair all damn day. At least he has already offered to take me home early if I can’t hack it. It’s day 2 without allergy meds and it’s going much better than I thought. But I heard from the allergist’s office today and the allergy tests count towards my deductible, which hasn’t been met … so I’ll be paying them about $400 on Monday. Ugggggggh. Seems like a good use of money, though. I hope.

I always joke that I get more compliments during the heat of summer, but it’s true. I swear I look younger when I have the “glow” of oppressive heat on my skin, lol. This high humidity is good for making my skin dewy, if nothing else …

Yesterday I stopped in my apartment management’s office to look for a package; the two women there were all atwitter at how much weight I’ve lost. Same thing when I went to UPS to pick up my protein powder. And today, I was told my a young psych grad student at the bariatric clinic, “You’re so young!” (Mind you, she was about 25, lol.)

I don’t care if people are delusional (one of the UPS ladies, who has known me as long as I’ve lived downtown, guessed my weight to be roughly 60 lbs less than it is. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.) — I’ll take the compliments.

I’m like 85% sure that I saw my last boyfriend today on the expressway. There was a dark haired guy in a green truck behind me when I was merging. He was right behind me, I did a double take in my mirror, and he dropped WAY back … like going under the speed limit. Hmmm. I’m not totally positive it was J, because the guy had on sunglasses. I’m kind of hoping it wasn’t him because, well, I haven’t seen him in like a year. Why reappear now?!

Tomorrow I have to stop taking allergy meds until I go to the allergist Monday morning. He’s going to do skin testing so of course I have to have all antihistamines, etc., out of my system to avoid false negatives. UGH. I am NOT looking forward to this. The pollen count is high and I am going to the State Fair on Saturday! I guess if it comes right down to it, I will be a baby and make WC take me home, if the hay and animals prove to be too much (we are meeting his parents there). At least I can still use my neti pot for some relief. No one will probably want to be around me at work, since I’ll be all sniffly, lol.

Is there really much worse than your first BIG fight?! We’ve had squabbles, we’ve been cross, but last night was epic. It started when I said I was too tired to go to the drive-in to see “Inception.” (We got up at 7 to do a 5k; WC took a 2 hr nap during the day, I didn’t.) It just spiraled from there. There was yelling, there were tears, it was bad news. But then there were apologies and, I think, understanding. I didn’t sleep well last night and I’ve been awake for nearly 2 hours. So I guess we’ll see how things are when sleeping beauty finally wakes up …