Four Fat Tuesday notes

1. On the allergy front, we learned that Olivia's natural threshhold for fighting food sensitivities was likely lowered by the surgery/anesthesia/antibiotics, and then the hives send chemicals into the bloodstream to cause more hives, so her threshhold for resistance hasn't been able to recover. Which is why she reacts to EVERYTHING. And why her whole body was blooming with hives at the doctor appointment. She'll have bloodwork to determine specific sensitivities, but in the meantime we were instructed to start a daily OTC antihistamine and also ben*adryl for breakthrough hives and work very hard to keep them away. In doing so, she will naturally rebuild her tolerance against the sensitivities and then will only break out in hives during times of great stress, and not because she ate a graham cracker. I'm just overjoyed that she's not, you know, allergic to the sun or anything. Because I was starting to wonder...

2. 'Tis Fat Tuesday, is it not? Therefore, MY plate today consists of Chocolate and Bread. Starting tomorrow, I forgo sweets and grains for the duration of Lent. So I am indulging today. I ate nearly an entire "pizza" of garlic breadsticks for lunch. And I found the candy stash from SIL's wedding a couple of weeks ago. I have decided that cherry M&Ms are the best candy in the world and should be in my Easter basket.

3. This is a very busy week, what with Lent starting and swim lessons starting and basketball ending. We are going somewhere nearly every night. And somewhere in there, Joe and I have a presentation to prepare in which we "sell" a whole bunch of brand new couples on the idea of writing a whole bunch of talks and becoming Engaged Encounter presenting teams. Wheee!

4. Today, I used the internet to look up a recipe for dinner, find a phone number for a meat processing plant five hours from our home, instantly communicate with my husband and also with a friend who lives in Hawaii, and look up the easiest way to quickly ripen avocados. I have become so dependent on my instant source of information and communication that the idea of a "communication fast" once a week kind of terrifies me. How on earth did our parents and grandparents function without cell phones and internet. It baffles me. Nevertheless, I am going to try to turn the computer off one day a week. Wish me luck!