animal departure

tomorrow we will be releasing our turtle, jasper, into a nearby pond, so that he'll finally be able to play with other animals and swim in a body of water that's more than 1.5 times his circumference and eat unprocessed foods and hopefully grow proportionally larger. it will be very difficult to have to empty out his little corner of the living room, but he's been debilitatingly sad for the past few months, and so we think it's in his best interest. he must feel so restless in our apartment, without anything to do but wait for feeding time and try to understand what it means when we watch television.

i especially like this blurry photograph of him, in which his tiny turtle head looks like some kind of gem, washing up on a grassy riverbank.

Lobster for Lunch and a Signed Lease!

Yesterday I woke up at 5am and got on a plane to join Sumanth in Boston where he has been apartment and job hunting all week. Within about twenty minutes of landing I'd already ordered an $11 lobster with lemon and butter for my lunch and within about forty-five minutes we were already taking my first ride on Boston's Subway, the T, to see an apartment that Sumanth had scoped out earlier in the week. About half an hour later, I was putting my initials under Sumanth's on the "Lead Paint Acknowledgement," that went with our apartment, (probably not too smart seeing as my current skin condition has yet to disappear, but. . . ). The apartment is adorable, and I will post some pictures soon. There are carefully maintained pink roses outside of the building and the wood floors absolutely gleam. It will be smaller than our current, spacey 2br, but from the front door we can take steps to a Thai restaurant, the subway and a very modern Dunkin'Donuts. Right now, we're planning on painting the walls in varying shades of purple.

Today has been a complete whirl of touring the city; maybe it is my medicine, but all I could think was this city sparkles. Between the adrenaline of everything and my still high dose of Prednisone my head is kind of thrumming, but in the most positive kind of way.

An Important Update. . .

Well, I am under the care of a very good doctor (finally) who isn't particularly baffled by my lil' rash. . . he said that it originated from contact with some chemical (we're thinking it was our landlord's homemade pesticides) and that the weak treatments I had actually made the rash come back stronger. Now I am on a heavy 12 day course of steroids, which Sumanth is waiting to see the results of before he tries (his rash has stayed pretty contained). . . I'm really hoping this is my last prescription for awhile, because when I went to pick this one up the pharmacist said, 'hey,' and didn't even ask if I had questions about the medicine.

In the meantime, the steroid that I'm on has resulted in me sleeping only in small snatches from about 2:30am-5:30am, reacting with extreme poignancy to life's smallest details, and moving faster than rocket fuel. For instance, I was just washing my hair and thinking to myself, 'how can I make this process more productive, more quick?' Last night, during a 6am episode of Gilmore Girls, the Gilmore Girls got termites under their porch and I found myself gasping, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!' and getting a lump in my throat just thinking about how they could never afford the repairs. . . At work, I've been writing down everything that everyone says just so that I have something extra to do with my hands. . . Does anyone need anything cleaned? I can travel.

The Sad Truth. . .

Well. . . two sad truths to be be exact. 1) My rash is back in full color and 2) Sumanth has it now too. Last night we vacated our apartment for the Days Inn in case we were allergic to something inside, but that didn't seem to change much. Hopefully the doctor will have a good idea tomorrow; if not I may have to invest in an above ground pool of Calamine Clear Lotion. . .

The Effects of Steroids

. . . Well, it's 6:30 am now, and I've been up for a couple of hours tending to my poor, under-the-skin itching, but at least the steroids I'm taking have let me sleep some this week (Tuesday morning definitely found me at Dunkin' Donuts at opening time (4:30am here,) writing a check for vanilla chai tea and a sesame bagel. They have also deflated my rash in a big way, although the itching is still extreme. I am quite hopeful that I'll get to post my smooth belly picture soon, although the Dr's have warned me that it might all come back when I go off the medicine on Sunday. Iyy Yii Yii. . .

A very drugged yet hopeful report. . .

I went to three doctors today and the verdict is that I am having some sort of internal reaction to something. I am on four heavy medicines and am eating a lot of Breyer's triple chocolate ice cream (one of the side effects of one of the medicines is overeating-yikes!). . . I can't tell too much yet, but I think that the rash may be starting to deflate. Hopefully, I'll post a real smooth picture soon.

Really hoping it doesn't get worse than this. . .

I'm off to the doctor's office before I even brush my teeth tomorrow!

Poor Bellelly

. . . I guess there was a reason for putting the question mark behind 'On The Mend' in my last post. . .

On the mend?

Well. . . I seem to have had a run-in with a poisonous plant that I do not recall. That was the best answer the dermatologist could give me after she said, "My, my, at least some people wear sunscreen properly." "Umm, yes, maam, I know I'm pale, but could we give a little bit of attention to the raging rash that is eating my belly alive?" . . . Yes, this little condition, which is spreading even as we speak has had me in its grips since Sunday. I have little else to think about or talk about than my itchiness. . .

The Beat Goes On. . .

This is the first weekend without plans that we've had in about a month and it feels pretty perfect. The way the after-rain light is leaning up against everything in our apartment, the temperature of my coffee, the fit of my new corduroy pants. . . Last weekend we ate yummy meals out and visited Airlie Gardens with my Dad and Colleen, and the weekend before that we (and my mom) got to see Sumanth's parents new house in downtown Geneva, Illinois. The weeks in between these weekends have been filled with the gut-wrenching chaos that is the start of classes, but I'm finding myself a little bit more prepared for it every time, (i.e., I have a bigger supply of band-aids, printer cartriges, paper towels, peanut butter and dance pants on hand than in previous semesters.)

Lately I've been touched by how quickly happiness can come to someone who is sad. On the first day of DREAMS classes, I saw one of my tiniest little students standing in the corner of our (unfortunately) unisex bathroom looking very troubled. When I asked him how he was doing, he said, 'Just terrible,' and proceeded to explain that in his guitar class he wasn't able to get even one chord right. About an hour later, in the middle of his multimedia art class, he was standing in the door frame of my office, one paint-splattered leg pointed to his left, exclaiming, 'I'm polka-dotted!'
I was so proud of him, I can't even tell you.

This Thursday I was getting ready to take some students to drum at a United Way benefit and we were without our lead drummer. We couldn't get in touch with him and everyone was getting nervous and practicing their routine by slapping their palms on their thighs. It was time to go and so we packed up the congos and caravaned out to the benefit without him. The entire drive over I kept picturing how pitiful the drummers would sound without their lead and how embarrassing this event was going to be. When we got there, not only was our drummer already there with his Gramma, he was looking for food. I heard him say to one of the kids, "I don't know if it's just something Miss Emily told me to get me out of the house, but she definitely said that there would be food." I think I need to relax more.