I need to do a better job of updating this thing.

Interesting Article

I read an article in the paper today that suggested that some allergy and autoimmune disorders can be related to the cleanliness of the home. Apparently, children who grew up in very clean homes were more likely to suffer from allergies or autoimmune disorders since their immune systems weren't exposed to as many things when they were little. The article even cited a group diagnosed with multiple sclerosis who grew up in cleaner homes.

Hmmm, don't know if there is any association, but it does give me something to tease my Mom about. After all, she's an excellent housekeeper. Meanwhile, I'm no Donna Reed, so if we ever have kids, they should be safe, LOL (that's laughing out loud for those of you who don't frequent message boards).

How am I doing?

Busy, busy, busy. Obviously, I haven't been posting lately.

Health's been doing all right. I haven't reacted badly to my past few shots. I still flinch when I get the shot - no matter who gives it - and Tim still hates it that I flinch. He does a great job, though, and doesn't leave any nasty bruises. Vision's been fine. Have had a little bit of numbness now and then, but nothing that lasts for that long of a time.

Still dealing with minor bladder issues. Basically, MS can affect your "early warning system", and it can also affect your ability to know when you're done. So when I think I need to go, I better go. And I don't necessarily know when I'm done, so I have to be patient and wait to make sure. And when we were at the beach, I had to make sure that I didn't wait too long to hike back over the dunes to the house. But other than that, it's no big deal. I take cranberry tablet supplements, since I'm more susceptible to UTI's, but I haven't had any problems so far.

Had fun at the beach. Didn't have any problems with my MS, even though there were air conditioning problems in both houses where we stayed. I got tired one day and took a long nap, but that could be blamed on staying up late the night before and getting up early in the morning to make breakfast and hit the beach. Since I wasn't the only napper, I don't think we'll blame my illness. And even though I'm supposedly more susceptible to sunburn now, I only had a little bit of pink in a couple areas - mostly I was just a pleasantly light tan.

Last weekend was a hectic one. We went to the James Taylor concert with four friends on Saturday. Luckily, we had reserved seating, because less than an hour before the concert was a huge rainstorm. The poor folks who were trying for good spots on the lawn got soaked, while we just piled into the back of Tim's Honda Pilot and waited for the rain to pass before leaving the parking lot. Sunday included signing more house papers and going to a fundraiser for a friend who had a heart transplant. We got some good loot at the silent auction, including some fun jewelry for me, a gift certificate to one of our favorite restaurants, and a cool lamp for our house. Tim has already decided we'll use the gift certificate to celebrate his birthday.

Speaking of Tim, he got his contract from UNC in the mail, and he has submitted his resignation to Meredith. Next year, he'll just be at UNC, instead of splitting his time between schools. He'll miss the folks at Meredith, but it was exhausting trying to keep up with two places. We're both very excited about this move for him.

More House News

Well, we've signed all of the preliminary papers, and we have appointments scheduled at the Design Center to make our choices. We're trying to go through bit by bit and get done with them. The cool thing is that we're pretty much on the same page on everything - we're agreeing pretty readily on most choices. I've tentatively decided to go with the same interior color that Sue picked, but Tim wants to wait and see what my parents' paint color looks like before committing. They picked a darker shade, and he thinks the one I like may be a little too pale. Sunday was tile day. This weekend is a break from house decisions (more on that later). I think next weekend will be carpet weekend. We also need to get our paperwork done to join the country club, so we can go ahead and use the pool this summer. I'm looking forward to dropping by on my way home from work and taking a quick dip. Our friends are looking forward to invitations for dollar beer Fridays.

Happy Anniversary to Us

For those folks who don't believe that time flies, I'd like to point out that Saturday is our 6th wedding anniversary. Yup, Tim has put up with me for 6 years (actually, more than that when you include dating and engagement). We are celebrating by sneaking away to Chapel Hill for a 5-star weekend getaway at the Fearrington House. We're looking forward to some good food and some serious pampering, including champagne and massages in our room. I plan to do some shopping while I'm there, if I see cool stuff for the house.