I just got eight summer shirts, a pair of shoes, and some underwear for $85. Other than some jeans I'll buy as I get down to those sizes, my wardrobe is all set for the summer! Then for the fall/winter, I'm set for pants for a few months (got a bunch of size 20 pants/jeans and one pair of size 18 jeans from Mom that used to belong to my sister pre-her-surgery). I will have to buy all new shirts and fall/winter coats come September, though.

Frank,

You might have to remind me of that, I am really terrible about remembering nicknames and what not, so I use board names because that's what is on my screen!

I glanced at the list and was amused to see this:

Hum. You might find that it's difficult to gag and hum at the same time.

Wonder if this is how the hummer came to exist.

I imagine the gag reflex thing would help with any need for it. And I'm fascinated by that link. And TOTALLY agree with the dentist-mould think causing gagging. GAH.

Yay Kat swimming! Y'all and your swimming make me want to do it, and then I remember I'm awful at (a) managing to breathe while swimming and (b) I hate getting water in my eyes, nose, and ears. Minor details.

Does anyone else find the smell of aveda products awful? I was dancing with a woman tonight who was flirting with me, and owns an aveda salon, and all I could think was "but I could never date you, you smell bad" just because she was wearing their stuff.

I really like some of it (when it smells like wet desert) and loathe some others. But there's a wet sage-y note in some of their stuff that I love.

Smells are fairly divisive though. I can't stand the smell of baby powder scented deodorants, for instance. Thankfully, I rarely notice it on other people though because it's one popular scent.

Yay Perkins!

Yay Greyhound!

Yay Swimming!

Booooooo vomitting blood.

This is weird. Some police officers -- state troopers, I think -- just walked into my backyard, then they saw me in the window, and turned around and walked back out. Now they're standing across the street talking, and there are two police cars parked there with lights on.

And now they're gone. Odd.

Bizarre, Hil.

We were watching movies with friends last night and in the duration of Meet the Parents I went from feeling fine to not being able to breathe through my nose. I haven't been able to sleep more than 30 minutes without waking up to blow my nose. Me no likey.

Best gag reflex suppressor I know is to hold your breath as full and long as you can. The diaphragm is wired up to the same system as the gag (enteric nervous system) so it tends to put a hold on things like hiccups and gagging.

The hold-your-thumb-in-your-left-fist could be a variation of some chi/accupressure method. I suspect it works by misdirecting your conscious attention from your throat, which may tip the balance against feeling sick.