stuff is cool

Well, lots has gone on since my last post, and some of you have begged for an update. Now that the holidays are over and the drudgery of work resumes, I know we all need distractions from work more than ever!

1) Remicade

My back pain is still a major problem. My spine appears to be fully inflamed, from my neck all the way down. Sleeping is still difficult, as is moving around in general. The good news is that I have had two full doses of the new drug remicade that is supposed to strop the progession of damage and increase my mobility while alleviating the pain. Doses are gived in IV drip that takes a few hours. Danny takes off work to be with me, which makes him even more a hero to me than he already was.

I am starting to see improvement, and hope to keep getting better so that by the time the wedding arrives, I will at least be able to boogie.

2) Christmas

Another wonderful Christmas, though it seems we have had to abandon most of my childhood traditions for new ones. It takes some getting used to.

3) SLUMBER PARTY!

I was feeling ambitious and invited my 3 cousins over for a slumber party a few nights ago. We baked red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese filling (the way it baked itslef into the center was amazing). Then we pampered ourselves with mud masks, even Sammy. We played High School Musical Mystery Date, and Sammy was the winner with a date with none other than Troy himself. I must include some pics here, as it was so much fun:

The children practice being beauticians:

We look mahvelous.

Christopher gets attacked by ZOMBIES!

Mystery date was frustratingly difficult to assemble, but worth it.

I felt like Supermom as I got each child showered and ready for bed, and was able to convince them to split just one cupcake for their bedtime snack. They all climbed into my bed to fall asleep, and then I led their sleepwalking little bodies into the guest room. I think pretty soon they’ll be too grown up for all 3 to fit in the guest bed!

4) Happy 2008!

We rang in the New Year with the Frosts. Much alcohol was consumed. Mostly by Danny. YIKES!

5) Biggio Escapes

My cousin Sammy got a new puppy yesterday. he is a stray who appears to be a long-haired terrier of some type, but he’s so skinny from being on the streets that we can’t tell what he’ll really look like yet. His name is Biggio and he’s estimated to be a little over a year old, I think.

Well, little Biggio likes to bolt out the door any chance he gets, and he got that chance yesterday when little Christopher left the door open when he went out to the car for some baseball gloves. That dog TORE out of the house and down the street with my entire family in pursuit. Somehow I gained superhero abilities, because I was so worried for that puppy’s safety that I ran top-speed after him, pain shotting though my back every time my feet hit the pavement. My aunt Michelle and I cornered him, and the others arrived and fanned out in a tactical position. Biggio made a break for it and I did something I somewhat regret.

I tackled him to the ground. I literally laid out on some stranger’s driveway, shoving the poor puppy into a car tire and then basically landing on him. It hurt my back so bad I screamed, which scared the poor dog even more. I was still holding onto him and calculating whether or not I would ever be able to walk again when the rest of the family surrounded me, recovered the dog, and got me off the ground. I took pain meds when I got home and sat on a chair with my back against a bag of shoes, which happens to be very therapeutic, amazingly enough.

From now on New Years Day 2008 will be known as the day Noonie tackled Biggio. I could barely walk after that, and last night was pretty miserable, but I’ll be damned if I ever let anything bad happen to a puppy.

I also chuckle as I think about how we ran around the neighborhood screaming “Biggio, come back! Biggio, STOP!” Neighbors might have thought Craig Biggio himself was running for his life from lunatic fans.

6) Rash in the New Year

And now I am here in bed, back sore, a bit feverish, and covered in that same damn rash that got me a few weeks ago. I didn’t think the rash is associated with the chase after Biggio, because it started to appear before that. But when I had this rash before, we thought it was an allergic reaction to Percoet. I went off it, the rash went away, and so did the flu-like symptoms. But now the rash is back, and it can;t be blamed on Percocet. So I go to the doctor tomorrow to get to the bottom of it.

Which brings me back to #1: It may be a side effect of Remicade. Grrrreat.

Anyway, here’s to 2008, the year I become Mrs. Daniel DiPaolo!