Hi everyone! Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Happy Belated Birthday, -t! Happy Birthday Kristin and Maria!

{{Cashmere and Owen}} Poor babies, all of you. I hope Owen starts feeling better and you get some sleep, Cash.

I'm up, not so sure about awake. Coffee is not to hand yet, so awake won't occur for a while.

If it is dust and mold causing his problem he needs a new mother.

If it is dust, he needs a new planet, Laura. If it is mold, y'all need a new home state.

Sail, coffeefastma to you.

vw, Emily is a big old sleepyhead, isn't she?

Kristin! Are you doing anything special for your birthday?

If it is mold, y'all need a new home state.

Mold is a bitch. (And not in a good 'One of us' kind of way.) I'm really sensitive to it, and when I worked at a bookstore, I could walk in the door, be there about thirty seconds, and tell my boss "We have a mold problem."

{{{Cashmere and Owen}}}

Annabel slept from 9:30 or so till 8:00, as is now her usual pattern, give or take 45 minutes or so on either side, as long as she doesn't have a cold. Unfortunately, DH and I don't always have the brains to go to bed ourselves by midnight on the weekend, though I came a lot closer to it than he did. So I got 6 1/2 hours of sleep and the privilege of getting up with the baby. DH is still asleep. I am vaguely disgruntled.

I am, however, still enjoying what my subconscious came up with for my dreaming pleasure last night. It was too disjointed to be said to have a plot, but the key elements were Sean Bean as Sharpe, roaming around the countryside, a campfire, sex, and pie (blackberry).

Actually, Laura, if it's dust mites, which is one of the most common allergies, there are a lot of things you can do, including covering his mattress and pillows with miteproof covers and washing bedding frequently.

t I zipped a mattress into an anti-allergy cover by my self and I'm glad there are no videotapes.

vw, Emily is a big old sleepyhead, isn't she?

On Saturdays and Sundays, she sure is! I kinda like the quiet, though. I get lots done and can listen to my own music (country) :). Actually, right now I'm entering cds into iTunes in preparation for getting an iPod. I've decided to take the money I've previously spent on my car payment (the car was just paid off last month) and put it towards an iPod if I can make it to all of my classes this semester (I'm giving myself one sick day...but it has to be used in the case of flu or something else as awful...no migraines or mental health days). I worried that that was TOO big of a motivator, but after talking to my dad, we've decided it's actually the perfect motivator. It may actually work, which is the purpose of such a thing. I have NEVER in my history of schooling made it to an entire semester of classes. As a matter of fact, starting in about 7th grade, I'd typically miss around 20 days of school each year. So, this would be a really big deal. And I'm going to treat myself to such.

Have I mentioned, I think I might actually make it successfully through this semester. Knowing that, in some ways, is a HUGE motivator as well...to do something I've never managed to do before...and give myself a treat on top of that? It's an awesome feeling.

Go vw!

(But aren't migraines as beyond your control as, say, the flu or food poisoning?)

Oh, and Laura, there are a lot of things you can do with those types of allergies, as others have said. In 7th grade I missed something like 30 days of school. My parents couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I always had a fever, etc., so the doctors ruled out allergies. Turned out, that was what it was. I was allergic to dogs, cats, hay, dust, mold, dust mites, etc. Once I got on medication and my parents did a few other things to limit the amount of dust, things got A LOT better.

The specialist I was seeing insisted that we get rid of our dogs. I was devistated. My parents decided to see how the medication worked and see if that would be enough to let us keep the dogs...also, the dogs weren't allowed upstairs anymore to keep that area of the house a safehaven for me. We managed.

Also, my allergies have gotten a lot better as I've gotten older. They still act up, and when they're really bad they manifest as asthma, which is no fun. But, I've got my inhaler, and all is well. When I saw my doctor last, she was surprised at how much I was using my inhaler. She asked if I knew why. I said, "Well, I've got a cat and a dog, and I'm allergic to them." She was all, "Why would you do that to yourself?" I responded with, "But, they're SO cute!" She laughed and told me to carry on.

(But aren't migraines as beyond your control as, say, the flu or food poisoning?)

Yes and no. When I get really stressed out the stress manifests as illness...typically a migraine, sometimes asthma or severe allergies. I'm trying very hard this semester to limit that stress and avoid the migraines. If you remember (which I don't expect you to), last semester my worst migraines were on days I had exams. There is a correllation there, much as I hate to admit it. If I honestly got a migraine out of the blue and I thought it wasn't related to stress, I'd probably cut myself some slack. But, I've got to learn to use these wonderful skills I've been learning to keep myself from turning stress into physical illness.