Terri Is With the Lord

Early this morning, Terri lost her battle. Please continue to pray for her family, and for our country. Godspeed, Terri.

The Answers

Yes, I'm being bad and posting twice in one night. It's Jeff's fault. (OK, so I';m sitting at my computer waiting for my CD to finish burning and I saw he'd done my questions. I couldn't resist.) So here we are.

1.Why do you hate birds? I do not hate birds. This is a common misconception. I only hate birds who, A: poop on my poor Harvey, B: NEVER go to sleep, warbling outside my window at 2 A.M. and 2 P.M. alike, and C:When bought in pairs reproduce endlessly until I almost run out of Harry Potter names to give them. All other birds I'm fine with.

2. Does your car Harvey have any superpowers, like Herbie the Love Bug? And would Harvey ever allow Lindsay Lohan to sit behind his steering wheel? Harvey does have superpowers. These include but are not limited to: magically killing his battery when I'm late for someplace I really didn't want to go anyway; the ability to store a week's worth of food, clothes, and reading material in his trunk; and of course the ability to make the radio go all scratchy when someone I want to impress is riding with him. As to Lindsay Lohan- Harvey doesn't like other people to drive him. Even when they speak to him nicely, he protests. Loudly. Lindsay wouldn't dare.

3. What tune is that chick at the top of your site whistling? She isn't whistling. She's going around saying, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows..." and giggling as people run away in terror.

4.Without digging into the archives at your site, can you remember the topic of your first blog post? Yes I can. It was a rant against David Beasley, who at the time was running against Jim DeMint for the GOP bomination to the U.S. Senate. As I recall, it was pretty colorful, and notice David Beasley is NOT representing my state to the U.S. Senate...

5. Do I [Jeff] like you better with your hair long or short? And are you really that cute? I think you like me better with long hair. Because you can use your imagination. And yes, I really am that cute. Especially in my PJ's. How do you think I get away with everything?

Here's the really fun part- the rules to continue this (come on, wasn't it fun?) Leave a comment that you want to be 'interviewed. I will ask you five totally useless but entertaining questions. You update your blog with the answers, the rules, and the chance to pass the interview on. It's like the circle of life, but only the first five to comment can play. (And if we end up going in a circle of interviews since a lot of us know each other, that's cool too. we can be creative questioners, yes?)

Interpreting Ancient-ish Pop Culture

It's time for another Good Idea/Bad Idea. Good Idea: Taking out my contacts when they are driving me crazy. Bad Idea: Having to search my room for 20 minutes for my glasses because I neglected to find them while I could still see.

I can do this really excellent Crypt Keeper imitation. The problem is, no one recognizes it. I've screeched, "Hello kiddies!" a few times recently and I've gotten several no-reactions and one, "What is that, the Wizard of Oz?" When informed of its ture origins, the reaction was, "Oh, that's so ancient!" (Like the WIzard of Oz isn't?) Sigh. I suppose I will have to stick to Ace Ventura. Everyone recognizes that.

Why is it, really, that I like the Golden Girls? Is it the forbidden intrigue, never being allowed to stay up and watch in its original run? Is it the excitement of daring to watch:"Lifetime: Television for Women?" Perhaps it is the fact that I still get choked up when I see the finale episode, even though I knowI will be watching all the episodes over...and over...and over...
No, it is none of those things. It is the fact that The Golden Girls have been playing in my background for so long that I can say the characters' lines before they do. Which alternately amuses my friends and makes them go "Wow, you're...just...wow." And it's still funny!

I Hate Spring

Ah, Law & Order: SVU. An addiction unlike any other. It's a new one tonight, so I get a double dose. And the captions were done by Peter, at Caption Max. Funny, I am satisfying two addictions at once, blogging and SVU. Isn't that fun?

All right, on to the post. I realize I am expressing the opposite sentiment of my more northerly friends, but here's why. Here, winters are really mild. Spring is not. Today it was over 70 degrees- and that's just the beginning. Basically there are two seasons- summer and fall. I say fall because it doesn't get that cold, and summer because this is just the beginning of the heat. From March to October it's hot. And with gas hitting 2 bucks a gallon, half of that spent on air conditioning. Why don't I just open the windows? That brings me to my next point.

Spring sucks for anybody who has bad allergies, like I do. My eyes run, my nose runs, my whole head runs. Everything is pollinating, the rain is promoting mold. It's miserable. I've had to add two new medicines just to deal with it. At this rate, I will be a walking antihistamine. Actually a walking steroid-decongestant-cromolyn-bronchodilator-antihistamine combo.

Let's see, how else can I bash poor, helpless Spring? Spring means exams. It means I have to start shaving my legs again. It means I'm going to be dying when I go to work cause I have to wear black. It means there are no hopes for a snow day. And do any of y'all hunt? Cause I've got a bird that needs to be taken down in the worst way....

The List

And now I present to you random thoughts that have NOTHING to do with each other. Or anything really. It's kind of what my brain is like. If this frightens you, please stop now before anyone gets hurt.
*Happy Easter! It rained here. All day.
*Why is it when I go to Food Lion for milk and cheese, I wind up with 30 bucks of other stuff and no cheese?
*Harvey smells funky even though I just cleaned him out last week. I think he needs a BBW AutoFresh system. Perhaps in mango mandarin.
*I hate Bradford pear trees. They smell foul, they help kick my allergies into high gear, and they shed all over the place. So why are they EVERYWHERE?
*I have an entire Barbie commercial from the '90s memorized. Surely my brain can hold something more useful.
*Today I wore blue socks with multicolored bunnies on them and I used Black Raspberry Vanilla.
*I like gummy octopi. Anybody remember "Wanna eat an octopus?" No? Just me, then.
*I will be twenty in eighteen days. I asked Kathleen if this meant I had to stop acting like a stupid teenager. She said yeah and I said fat chance.

Shut It

In Jeff's vein, I have put my creative skills to work, enjoy. And now I proudly present, How Harmony Doesn't Understand Me: A Tragicomedy. Cast: Nettie, an associate at Bath and Body Works who loves her job, and also loves to sing. Harmony: her slightly cranky but entertaining manager. Melissa: Another associate who can appreciate Nettie. Kristy: a newish associate who just goes with the flow. Got it? (please note: this is tongue-in-cheek. I LOVE my job, and all the people there. It's all in good fun!)

H: All right Nettie, I'm gonna need you to tone it down on the Amy Grant a little there.
N: Melissa, tell Harmony to stop picking on me.
M: Harmony, Nettie has politely requested that you cut down on the picking on her. aside: Because her stopping isn't going to happen.

N: Is merrily singing the soundtrack to the Sound of Music playing in her head as she stacks the shelves.
H: Shut it!
N: Shut what?
H:Your piehole!
N:I can't.
H:Do it anyway!

Harmony has left the area. Nettie continues her repertoire with "I Have Confidence."
H:Nettie, I told you to SHUT IT!
N:I didn't know you were there!
H:Well, here I am!
Nettie whirls on Melissa and Kristy, who are stacking the shelves behind her facing the door.
N:Why didn't you tell me she was there?!
Melissa and Kristy mumble something shamedfacedly about not having noticed her either.
N: You people aren't helping me here.

M:You know, Harmony, she's going to write all this on her website.
N:Well, not all of it. Whatever Harmony says has to be heavily edited.
M:Now, see, Harmony she can't put what you say verbatim!
H: Yeah, I need to work on that.

Yo, Bird!

Hey, bird outside the window: It's 1 A.M. All the other birds are asleep. All the smart ones. So why are you singing? No one's up to hear you. No one, except of course a poor college student who's up trying to study for her calc test. You're really annoying her. She thinks you need to get a new internal clock and chirp during the day like the other, normal birds. No one cares what you have to say at 1 in the morning. Especially when it's a human who would much rather be in bed right now than trying to concentrate and is being distracted by the Internet and the state of the world, and especially, YOU. She says, get a life and be quiet for once in a week. So do her a favor and shut up before she finally loses it.

The scary thing is, this actually worked.

Dichotomy

For the past few days, I've kept my commentary on Terri confined so I could express my lighter side here. I had another lighthearted post planned, about dropping ice cream on my foot and eating too many cookies at work. After all, I find most of my life to be funny and I like to share it. But tonight? Tonight, I just can't say those things.

I've always been affected by things that go on outside my little sphere. It may be naive, but I want to make the world a better place. I volunteer for a lot of politicians, because I want our government to do what's right. I really believe I can change the world, or at least try. But this? It's just breaking my heart. No matter what I and other bloggers and Terri's family, and even President and Governor Bush try to do, it doesn't seem to be working. The fact seems to be that Terri is going to die. And that's just so wrong.

I'm not much of a crier. I tend to channel my energy in other ways, like writing. I shed a few tears after reading Jeff H.'s gorgeous post. But more than that, it makes me angry (a far more common response, I must admit). Angry that so many people have ignored the evidence that Terri is not in a permanent vegetative state. Angry that the "important" people don't care about what Terri would really want. Angry that there is nothing I can do in the end. I can write my blogs, but I can't go down to Florida and forcibly feed Terri (not that I wouldn't like to try). I can email senators, but I can't make them vote to save an innocent woman's life. And I can plead with Governor Bush to somehow do what he wants to do anyhow, but I can't change the laws so he can storm in there and make them feed her.

Righteous anger? Yes, I suppose. But my anger and my hope and even my tears aren't going to change what is probably going to happen. I'm not the only one to express this, but the fact that this is happening at Eastertime...I have had the feeling for a while that something is going to happen, on Easter or Good Friday, some of the holiest days of my faith. I pray it will be Terri's life, saved. But I don't know. I just don't know anymore...

You Remembered My Name

Today in ochem they were handing back some papers and when I went to get mine, the T.A handed it to me without asking my name. I was absurdly pleased by this. I had her for recitation (a smaller group than the big lectures where you can take quizzes and ask questions, etc.) last semester, but I didn't think she would remember who I was. (It also made me feel slightly guilty because I made sure not to get her this semester, but that's not my point.)

I've been calling myself Nettie since I was 7 years old. I never really liked my real name, nobody ever spelled it right. As I grew older, it became more than just a nickname. Now I can't stand my real one because the inevitable reaction is, "Ooh, that's so pretty, you should go by that, can I call you that?" No. I never get a correctly spelled paycheck and I always have to explain it to people. After about the fourth grade, I started signing my papers as Nettie and insisting my teachers call me Nettie. A lot of my friends don't even remember my real name.

I was never intended to have a nickname. Neither of my sisters do, at least not serious ones. I've even come to have a nickname of my nickname, some people call me Nellie. The only ones that don't call me Nettie are my professors. In the smaller classes, they ask what you want to be called and there they do call me what I want. The big ones I just spell it out cause they don't remember it anyhow. The one exception to this is my calc professor. It's one of those big classes, but since I talk a lot she has learned my name. My real name. And she uses it. It drives me absolutely nuts, cause it doesn't even feel like me. Why don't I correct her, you ask? Well, she seems so proud of herself for actually learning my name, and since I need all the help I can get in that class, so I don't want to mess up the status quo.

But as for the rest of you? I'm Nettie. It's the identity I've created for myself. It represents all that I am proud of myself for. I've worked hard to become who I am today, and Nettie is who I am.

All Right Already

OK, definite downside to the new haircut? Now I get old guys checking me out. The ones with gray hair and potbellies and grandchildren in tow. Say it with me: Yeucch! (And I sincerely hope I have not just described any of you.) But anyway, the pictures are finally up over on my picture blog. I also added yet another blog to the collection, for two reasons. One, I made a commitment to blog about Terri, and two, to resolve the dichotomy that results from switching attitudes all the time. Now you can pick from Serious, Passionate Nettie, or Facetious, Passionate Nettie. Enjoy.

I sang the Viking birthday song to Ashley today (if I ever post voice clips, I will do that, it just can't be reproduced in print). She wasn't really impressed by it; she asked, "Where did you get that?" "From the dark recesses of my mind." A truly scary place. A place that inspires such queries as: If you pour water on the vacuum bags that are advertised as being waterproof and they aren't, will they really give you your money back? When you have to buy 5 yogurts to get the discount and you have two each of vanilla with Reese's and vanilla with M&M's, which do you pick for the fifth? If you buy all the banana cream pudding left and it's only three, does that make you a pig? And am I ever going to eat all the broccoli I ended up with since I forgot I bought some at Publix and bought more at Wal-Mart? Who has the answers to these things?

Trippin'

No, it's not what you think it is and I have told you people (LBB) to get your mind out of the gutter! No, this is a story about a journey to a mystical, wondrous place. A place few are fortunate enough to see. A place known as...the Dollar General.

For the uninitiated, the Dollar General is a place to get cheap stuff. I don't normally go there, but I forgot to go to Wal-Mart on the way back from work and I needed blank videotapes. I decided to try Dollar General as opposed to wasting gas going back to Wal-Mart. As I wandered up and down the aisles, I was simply....amazed at the treasures that awaited me. Treasures like Winter Holiday Lucky Charms (which I did not buy). Two dollar boxes of Rice Krispie Treats. Green and orange jump ropes for a buck (I was tempted). My quarry, 6-hour videotapes, also for a buck. But the best was yet to come. They had....

Peach Fanta. Poor, neglected Peach Fanta. Peach Fanta is the ugly stepsibling of the Fanta family. Unlike strawberry and grape and orange, it does not come in two-liter bottles, only the 20 ouncers you find in gas stores. Many a time have I skipped hopefully into a Li'l Cricket, my eyes alighting on a golden-colored bottle of...Orange Fanta. But you, Dollar General, you did not dash my hopes, instead you fulfilled my craving. We have only just met, but I feel sure I will return. And next time I'll have more than 5 bucks. Fanta, Fanta, don't you wanna Fanta, Fanta, don't you wanna.....

More Ranting

Oy, what a weekend. I kept busy journeying to my sister's baby shower, going to the zoo with my premed group, and getting my butt kicked by organic chemistry. Mostly getting my butt kicked. I was studying last night and intended to post after the House of Reps finished meeting, but I ended up falling asleep at 10:30. Yikes.

Let me know what y'all think of the new format. I've always had it as 1 post on the main page, but I thought it might be easier to have a couple so people can catch up. I don't know if I like it yet, I'm used to a more streamlined look. Plus if I have several posts on the page, I might be inspired to write more than once a day. And then the blogging addiction might really take hold. We'll see.

All right, what's the judge waiting for? I am referring to Judge James Whitmore (a Clinton nominee- anyone surprised?) who, after Congress put forth an extraordinary effort to save Terri, is not going to put forth a ruling yet. The bill was passed (and a shout-out to my Congressmen, Joe Wilson and Gresham Barrett, who were in Washington to vote yes!), President Bush has signed it, and the hearing has been held. How much time does he think he has? He's commiting political suicide if he doesn't say something. I will be constantly checking the news alerts until this cowardly man decides, and I will pray that it will be the right decision. Because I still believe in miracles.

I Believe in Miracles

I'm rarely serious on this blog, but there is something that deserves all of our attention and prayers. Today they removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. This case has been characterized as "a right to die", however, Terri is capable of responding to her mother and other conscious behavior. I won't try to reiterate many of the arguments that have been made (see the links I've added). I will simply state that I am hoping with all my heart that Terri will not be murdered.

Pray. Pray with all you have in you that in the time she still has, something will happen in the courts or in the legislature to keep Terri alive. I believe in the power of prayer, and I am praying that evil will be beaten here, that the callous people who seek her death (namely her husband, his lawyer, and a certain Judge Greer) will not succeed. Because if they do, I shudder to think of the fatal consequences- not only for Terri, but for the future of the right to life, in this country and around the world. So I ask you, do you believe in miracles? I do. And I will be praying for one until it happens.

My Funny Brain and Me

The leprechauns are eating my brain. Seriously, that's the only explanation for this, erm, day. Around here, the major activity for St. Paddy's is getting drunk. Obviously not an option for me. But I dug up an ancient, inherited from who knows which sister, no-longer-black Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt with a green logo. I'd even picked up some shamrock hair clips. I couldn't find any socks that had green in them (at least clean ones). Maybe that was why the leprechauns picked me.

It started with biology. I was doing my usual, taking notes and thinking about something totally different (how it would be really cool to kiss the Blarney Stone, if you must know). Dr. Connelly was teaching about protein sorting pathways, and at one point I looked down at my notes and realized I was writing about "protins." I don't know what protins are, maybe they are a spell that the leprechauns use on vulnerable brains. The weird thing was, even once I became aware of it, I kept writing "protins." It's not like anyone else can read my notes, what was the purpose of writing "protins?" Do the leprechauns enjoy annoying spelling-conscious people?

I thought of eating my chocolate Lucky Charms to celebrate the day, but my refrigerator mysteriously froze my milk so I had to eat them dry. Oh well. I suppose I will just give in to the leprechauns and not try to do anything more taxing than watching a Jane Seymour TV movie where she does this great Irish accent. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all ye lads and lassies!

Southern Living

A summary of Southern attitudes- Paula, feel free to add to this.
*We complain when it drops below 60 that it's freezing out.
*When it snows half an inch, schools shut down, the state shuts down, and you can't find milk and bread to save your life.
*It was the War of Northern Aggression. Really.
*When you learn about your state in the eighth grade, they tell you about how some people ate dirt and dress up like mamas and offer you clay for breakfast. At least my teacher did.
*You are never going to get a Democratic presidential candidate to win the state. It just ain't happening.
*There are tons of little towns called Denmark and Cameron and Clover that you have to go 30 miles off the interstate to find.
*College campuses are just about the only place you are going to find liberals- loud ones, anyway.
*We still have blue laws.
*We get boycotted because people don't like our flags.
*Sweet tea is the drink of choice. Real sweet tea.
*If you're a Yankee, we may love you, but you will never hear the end of it.

Trivial Pursuit

TV addiction is an ugly thing. I never liked to watch Law & Order Special Victims Unit, not because it was a bad show, but my roommate last year was obsessed with it. And I guess since I didn't like her that much I had bad feelings towards the show. When I was in Virginia last week, though, I couldn't watch The Golden Girls cause my grandparents' sattelite doesn't carry Lifetime. The only decent thing on was Law & Order: SVU. In short order, I was hooked. USA has reruns on every night at different times. At least I managed to pick a show that has reruns and new episodes (NBC, Tuesdays at 10). I don't know how I get into these things.

But it's all good, cause that's how I decided what my hair wanted to look like. I knew I wanted to get it cut off to donate, and I wanted something different but I didn't know what. When I saw Mariska Hargitay's hair on the new episodes, though, I knew that's what I wanted. She's an awesome actress, the Lifetime movie she was in, Plain Truth, was their highest rated ever. She had it shorter in the earlier seasons, but I love how she has it this season. I took a picture to my hairdresser Keith and he worked his magic. I still can't believe how well it turned out.

Of course it doesn't look quite the same as yesterday when Keith blew it out. But it moves. I did get the ends to flip out like Mariska's. Naturally it will take practice. So now I go to class in my PJ's....but I fix my hair first. I think I'm obsessed.

My Name Is Nettie and I Have a Fabulous New Haircut

People are always telling me to do something with my hair. So I did. I cut it all off, ten-plus inches. But I didn't stop there. I also got....layers. Yes I, of the roll-to-class-in-my-PJ's school, have layers. And I love it. Seriously, it's ridiculous how happy this makes me. I was walking around grinning in mirrors all day. I thought I would feel ambivalent about losing the length I've been working on for a year and a half, but I feel like Xena Warrior Princess or something. I wanna go kick some butt!

Kathleen does the best double takes. When I walked into work, the only person up front was someone I hadn't met (I took pity on her and didn't make her do the customer spiel). I was goping to the back and Kat was at the cash register not really paying attention. Then she looked up again and her mouth just dropped open. I said, "You like?" and she's going, "Ooh, I like, I like! Where'd you get it done? Lemme see the back!," ruffling her fingers through my hair, "Go show Harmony!" She was almost as excited as I was. I really have the best job in the world.

I think maybe I need to get haircuts more often, cause I was just in the best mood all day. I hadn't had one since the last time I donated my hair. I have it short and framing my face in the front, and then it's sort of graduated towards the back and the ends are feathery. I was going for Mariska Hargitay's hair in the sixth season of Law & Order: SVU, and it turned out soooo well. It's so perfect and cute and I love it, I love it, I love it!

I Just Can't Stay Away

*Judging by the comments, you guys really missed me. Awww. I missed y'all too, and I am happy to be back.

*I missed Bath and Body Works too. Apparently they can survive without me, although of course they had this to keep them company. Kiernan showed it to Harmony, and her first words to me were, "I saw your website. You really are a psycho." Well, yes, Harmony, but I didn't think you needed a website to show you that. Kathleen said to me, "You're just a little crazy, aren't you, Nettie?" Yep, and I'm happy that way. I brought the Chicago soundtrack in and we were all listening to it in the back. After I finished wailing out, "And All That Jazz," Trent was just standing there laughing. I was like, "Why are you laughing?" and she said, "Cause you're good!" I went," Aww, thanks. I'm also not self concious." "Well, we knew that."

*Thunder-snow is an interesting phenomenon that I encountered. It starts as a normal thunderstorm, but soon you realize, "Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like rain." The snow is falling and it looks so beautiful, but of course it doesn't stick. AS it begins to melt and the sun is peeking out....ice. Falling from the trees, the skies, everywhere- "Don't get hit in the head by falling ice." Sound advice, not that it will ever happen here.

*I drove through this college slash historical town that I've been to a few times before. The most memorable was last year with my friend Meka on our way to pick up her obnoxious friend Brandon. I passed by the same gas station where they wouldn't let her use the bathroom. As we were filling up , I tried to distract her but she's going, "Stop it! Stop making me laugh, you're making it hurt worse!" After we drove around the stupid one way streets for a few more hours, we finally found his dorm. At least he took her in to use the bathroom, and now she brags about the time She Held Her Bladder For Seven Hours.

*I went to this adorable little BBW in Virginia. They carried all our same stuff, but they were about half our size. I'm going, "I want to work here! Y'all don't have nearly the space to mop!" I was tallking to them- "I love my job. It's a bunch of insane people just like me." "Yep, that's us here too." Plus you have an really cute store.

*I got some kick-butt jeans at Old Navy. They're really dark and they are long enough to still brush the top of my shoes when I wear my platforms. Normally I have a hard time finding jeans but my grandmother fixed them so they fit in the back too. I also got some new socks, and a T-shirt that says, "Love is like a merry-go-round. If you stay on too long you throw up." I find this vastly amusing.

*My room was pretty bereft of food. I got apples, pears, milk and water, thank you very much. "(All right, I also got more Chocolate Lucky Charms...) Not that the guy checking me out minded. And I mean checking out. He was just standing there while I was in line, and he goes, "I can take you over here", staring at me the whole time. Oh well, at least I got out of there faster, right?

So-Called Spring Break

Even though it's really still winter. I'm not a big party person, and I'm cheap. Which means I go to Virginia to see family and as my psych professor said, get a break from "my friend Chef Boyardee." I think we've been getting too close lately. I hopefully will get to see Kevin's family while I'm there, but other than that I'll just be chilling out. I think I need that. I will talk to all you beautiful people when I return in a week. Until then, take care of yourselves, and each other.

Aftermath

OK, here are the long-awaited pictures I have been promising. Something to tide you over when I leave tomorrow for spring break.

In case any of you really wanted more details, I will indulge you. (I do have pictures, but I refuse to put those up. No way.) It actually happened on Tuesday night, and I did take it easy Wednesday, went to work but not classes. Priorities seem a little screwy there huh? Harmony is actually getting used to it, she commented yesterday that she was an old pro. I even taught her how to use my Epi-Pen, although she insists she would never be able to do it. I've only had one time where I was so bad I couldn't do it myself, but just in case, eh?

My explanation of the previous title really deserves a post of its own, but I'll abbreviate. The EMS team that picked me up included a student who has the same EMT teacher as I did. I told him to tell Vickie that "Nettie did it again." I went into anaphyalctic shock during EMT class. I'll get around to that story eventually, but only so much humiliation at a time. It's also what Harmony told Jen, to which Jen replied that she was glad it wasn't her, that Harmony had the practice and she'd better be there the next time too. Candis really dodged the bullet and had just left before things started hitting the fan. Which is good for her because she really freaked out the last time; I'm always messing with her head about it. I feel bad for Adele, though, she wasn't there yesterday so I didn't get to reassure her. Harmony said she was really scared. Kiernan was supposed to be there, but she had a sick cat or something feeble like that. I'm sure she would have enjoyed it though. Heather was one of the associates who had to keep the store running; she called me as soon as she got off cause she saw that poor Harvey was still sitting in the parking lot all by himself.

Harvey got his reward, though, I cleaned all the junk out of him today so he's all tidy. I spent the rest of today getting a 100 on my chem lab quiz, yay me, and sending emails to professors explaining why I missed Wednesday. It will be after spring break before I get everything sorted out, though. As far as work goes, I suppose my timing was good as to which manager was there, and I just revealed which half of the leadership team wouldn't want to be there for the fun. After I said I wouldn't. Oops. I love 'em all anyway!

Nettie Did It Again

I may not be a self-conscious person, but I would not call getting hauled off in an ambulance in front of a mall full of people one of my finer experiences. To put it mildly, last night was NOT fun....

I have the lousiest timing in the world sometimes. I don't know why I had to go into anaphylactic shock at work. Again. The initial conversation between Harmony, my beleagured manager and I, went something like this: "What are you doing, Nettie?" "Dying?" "Seriously?" "Yeah." "Again?" "Yep." "Am I going to have to call the freaking ambulance on you again?" "I don't know yet." I should explain at this point that for me, my allergic reactions do not progress so fast that I have no hope of them subsiding with Benadryl. So Harmony sat me down with a walkie in the back to await....

Harmony goes, "How you doing?" "Call it." The fun is just beginning. She's calling the ambulance, I'm sitting there trying to breathe, and Adele is sitting there trying to be helpful and not flip out. I have to give her her props though, she was off the clock and stayed there in the back with me cause Harmony had to work the registers. And then the cavalry arrives- security, EMS, fire, I don't know who all, but Harmony told me today all the people really messed up her sales figures. They are all standing around, asking questions like, "Have you eaten any of the foods you're allergic to?" I shake my head, wishing I had breath for a sarcastic reply. Fortunately, Harrmony has enough for the both of us, replying with one of the evil looks she's famous for when they ask if it was something in the store. She's on the phone trying to answer for me at the same time, the customers are in the front dying of curiosity, and poor Ashley and Heather are trying to hold down the fort.

Last time, they had the sense to come to the truck door in the back. This time, they had to park at the front of the mall and haul me out through the store in front of EVERYBODY. Harmony told the customers it was none of their business when they asked about the EMTs. Of course, that didn't keep the rest of the mall customers from staring. I don't know that my consciousness was a good thing at this point. I'm glad it was Harmony there, though- she has enough attitude to keep from freaking out, and still make sure everyone else is doing their job. She tried to spare me the mall trek, but they wouldn't listen to her. Two out of the three other managers would be panicking long before this point, but I'll be kind and not name names.

This is a rather long explanation for why I didn't update last night isn't it? I'll skip to the highlights: The question of the hour is, what did you react to? And the answer of the moment is: I have no idea. I hadn't eaten in three hours, which is past the time limit for me to have reacted to one of my known problem foods (shellfish and cinnamon, if you are dying to know.) It sucks that I don't know what it was I reacted to, but I don't think it was anything at work; hopefully I will get some answers soon. Melissa (at work, not my sister) suggested that perhaps they should put me in a bubble. But what if I was allergic to the bubble? Hah, ha. Most people don't see the humor in this, but really, almost anything in life can be funny. How are we going to get through it otherwise?

I am glad that spring break is coming up, though. Nothing tires me out like this, and all the stuff they pumped me full of really screws with my system. But hey, as long as I'm still here, and can talk, I'll keep bouncing back. End rant.