26. make thanksgiving dinner alone

i'm really flying through this 52 in 52 list. i really hope i can actually finish it by the deadline, but i will still end up making a donation to susan g. komen because cancer sucks bad.

i'll admit humbly that it's mostly because i'm full of the awesome, but probably more so because i'd feel bad if i didn't donate and my only motivation to finish the list was so that i didn't have to donate. then i would be a horrible person.

on the scale of horrible people where 1 is peter (because he wasn't completely horrible, he just denied jesus 3 times) and 10 is osama bin laden (who was so horrible that he had to be buried at sea), i would be nestled comfortably between president bush (the one who golfs while simultaneously sending troops to war) and president clinton (the one who had sexual relations with that woman). i think that's accurate.

i cooked the entire thanksgiving meal (with the exception of the sweet potatoes my younger sister just had to make) alone. it was so refreshing. i just had time to myself and since i love cooking, i really enjoyed making such a huge meal.

because i've been having issues with allergic reactions, indigestion, and acid refluxy feelings, i decided to forego making homemade macaroni and cheese and stuck mostly to the earthy/grainy foods that aren't so horrible for everyone's cholesterol. here's the menu:

turkey
string beans
mashed potatoes
stuffing (or dressing, however you say it)
sauerkraut
cranberry sauce
corn muffins
deviled eggs
sweet potatoes*

typically we would add baked macaroni & cheese, collards, maybe cabbage, and yeast rolls to that list, but there were only 4 people in attendance this year: my mom, my sister, jesse, and myself. and later that evening, jesse and i went to his parents' house to eat their food. so everyone won, especially jesse and i.

this holiday also rocked for 2 additional reasons: 1, i got a 4 day weekend away from work that i spent mostly with friends and family (thanksgiving thursday, birthday dinner friday, birthday dinner saturday, and relaxation sunday), and...

i got jewelry!

jesse got me this really pretty, 10k white gold ring with 3 diamonds! and it's not even an engagement ring! he's awesome for a lot of reasons, but that's definitely at the top of the list now.

definitely. extra rings? who wouldn't be happy?

YES!

that deserved all caps. i have been trying to post blogs all week! but my work computer is ancient and the i.t. department will not let me upgrade my browser. basically, i thought i would try to be slick and do it anyway and i clicked on "try the updated interface" so i could see a bunch of cool stuff that you guys probably see, but it backfired and would only show an error page because i.t. put blocks on the upgrads to anything higher than internet explorer 6.0. when have we last used 6.0? was that in 1995? so blown.com

at any rate, i have so much to share! i did cook thanksgiving dinner myself, which is too much for this update post. i also worked some overtime at work this week, which pretty much told me that the company likes giving away money; and i started my consulting business! how rocking am i?

pretty rocking.

18. get a physical (ugh...)

yesterday was the longest day in the history of days in life.

i went through the most extensive testing ever by getting a physical/well woman exam plus allergy testing.

for those of you who have gone through allergy testing, i just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me know what to expect. you're so awesome, i can't even put it into words.

i hope you felt the sarcastic sucker punch right upside your head.

i was totally not expecting to be pricked about 60 times to test me to see what could possibly kill me. it was terrible.

the only good thing that came from it is now knowing that i have oral allergy syndrome and i have a few options for treatment:

1- continue to avidly avoid the foods/trees i'm allergic to, keeping an epi pen handy.
2- undergo allergy shots 2x/week for 3 months, then once every week for 3 months, once every 3 weeks for 3 months, once every 3 months until i can stop. so forever.
3- take seasonal allergy meds and avoid the foods/trees i'm allergic to, keeping an epi pen handy still.

i'm up in the air about the shots. i don't have any aversion to needles or anything, i just don't know how great of a mood i would be in, having to go to work after that twice a week. i don't think it'd be fair to my coworkers. and seeing that i would have to sit at the office for about 30 mins afterwards for monitoring (you know, just in case i die or something), if i have a bad reaction to the immunizations, it's the epi pen and the emergency room for me, which could cause some issues with my employment--not a good look, when the insurance is paid by my employer. so technically i would need to still be employed to get these shots.

*sigh* so many options. i already have the epi pen prescription, and since the fall is a down season for me with allergies, i can wait until the weather breaks to get it.

since i found out i don't just "sneeze" when it comes to dust and mold, i might want to get that sooner, since my job is full of both dust and mold (smh).

in regards to an earlier post about girly parts, the doctor who did the physical decided to put me back on birth control to help with the pcos. i'm also taking freaking prilosec to help with the burning sensation in my stomach, but if that doesn't work again, it's back to the lab to get another ultrasound; this time on the upper right quadrant of my stomach. where the gull bladder is.

to aid in preventing ovarian cancer/cysts/endemetriosis, i got the first string of the HPV vaccine. the shot felt like the tetanus shot, which feels like crap. the nurse had to pinch my skin and then shove the needle in my arm, but the worst part was feeling the vaccine leave the needle and enter my body. it hurt so bad. it felt like kryptonite.

because yes, i know what that feels like.