Ugh, I figured something like that would happen with HG this year, given how fraught it was last year. He has SO MANY requests for space that time of year. I dunno though, I worked hard to stay out of it all.

I've never done a juice fast. I like eating too much. I've been doing a bit of stress eating since Christmas and have gained weight. Dont know how much, but my clothes don't fit right. I'm going back to healthier eating habits tomorrow.

I didn't get lovin' today, but I did make out like a teenager at a movie theater. It was fun. And, I needed a bit of that after this week.

I watched the last episode of The Wire last night with my roommate. I feel bereft. I don't think any show has affected me quite so much. Also, as depressing as it was, the episode really had no right to be that damned funny at the same time.

GOOD FUCKING G-D, why is my neck welting up? I haven't had any gluten, and I've been extra paranoid/careful about cross-contamination? Excuse me, I'm going to sulk now.

Oh, Jilli. That sucks.

Maybe it's not gluten? My mom's neck welts up from leaf mold and she doesn't have to touch it, she just has to walk by it. Something in some types of dust can do it to her, too--so vacuuming can stir it up.

Randomly, good GRIEF, gluten-free stuff is expensive.

You ain't never lied. It's made me gradually shift my focus of eating, so that sandwiches are a sometime thing. (Udi's is GOD, but it's as expensive as you'd expect god-bread to be.) And GF flours, baking mixes, etc., are damn expensive. I'm at the point where I'm so inured to it that I get excited when I find a 4-pound bag of Pamela's baking mix for $12.

why is my neck welting up? I haven't had any gluten, and I've been extra paranoid/careful about cross-contamination? Excuse me, I'm going to sulk now.

I've started getting welts recently (on my hip, of all places), when I didn't use to get them before. It could possibly be something else (although, sweet Christ, it had better not be bedbugs -- and there's not actual evidence that it is), but the temporal relationship to my deliberate choice to eat gluten and the appearance of the welts is making me suspicious.

On the one hand, if isn't gluten, that means waffles and cupcakes can be mine once again! On the other hand, if it isn't gluten, I need to get some sort of tests to figure this out. Whaaah.

But, to counteract my whining: because my last round of bloodtests showed that I am OVER the Bartonella (yay!), I got to stop taking the evil-but-effective Rifampin. And surprise surprise, now that it's out of my system, I'm suddenly clearer-headed! My brain isn't lost in fog! I'm able to sit down and write and have words be there, instead of nothingness and tears! This is a big, big deal to me. The Rifampin was Not Fun. Useful, but ugh.

Jilli, seeing your progress is great -- I'm so glad your doctor has been able to treat you appropriately and effectively. Yay!