I Speak With the Tongue of a Thousand White-Hot Lies!

Yargh.

Let's see ... yesterday the Zweeb and I got our H1N1 shots.

After I ruptured my spleen, lo these many years ago, I was told by my doctors that I'd be back to normal in a year or two. For the most part, that was true--it took me more like four to gain back the weight I lost, and I freaked out most of the sophomores in my gym class senior year and every roommate I had in college when they got a look at my scar (I didn't exactly forget about it, but you do start to take it for granted after a year or two of seeing it every day in the mirror). Now that I don't have to change in front of anyone I haven't known forever, it's not something that really impacts me on a daily basis.

But every so often, something comes along and I get smacked in the face with the wet fish that is my spleenless state. And by that I mean, every time I get a flu shot from the health department.

Yesterday I dutifully filled out the form stating that I have a weakened immune system. (I don't exactly buy that, but even in denial I don't take chances.) On the second form there was this whole thing where you had to say you're immunosuppressed due to chronic illness--cancer, anemia, liver disease, yaddah yaddah. I did not see "no spleen" there, so I checked "No."

When I was being questioned by the nurse, I explained that I had no spleen, and she re-checked my box, saying, "Yup, that's a chronic condition."

What, like lupus? COPD, RA, asthma, and spleenlessness? These terms do not seem to match. Though I admit I'm biased and still in the suburbs of denial, and medical terms and groupings do not always make sense to me even after working for a doctor.

But, whatever. I got the shot. Even though I am 99% sure we all had swine flu back in April, Z. and I got the vaccine. Because if we didn't have swine flu, I am for damn sure not willing to get it after the April Plague and the salmonella (plus three head colds).

Our nurse was incredibly slow, and managed to take long enough that Z. worked himself up into a total freakout over the needle. Which also annoyed me. And then he has to have a booster in 4 weeks--at which time I am finding the oldest, most battle-scarred inoculation veteran nurse to give it to him, even if I have to bypass a dozen cute young things just out of nursing school to do it.

Mr. Z has also been fighting nap time like whoa this week, which aggravates me--he fights and squirms and then sleeps for 3 hours.

Work is really bloody annoying, but I won't get into that on the internet.

But, on the plus side, the weather has been cooler lately, the book I'm reading just got really good, I ordered the new Robin McKinley, got Z. signed up for holiday music class (we've been doing Music Together for a year, now--it's nuts), and last week Scott and I got to spend every evening together watching good stuff on DVD--we Netflixed Torchwood: Children of Earth, which was really good, and when we were waiting between discs, my copy of The Next Doctor arrived, so we watched that and it was pretty good. Zweeble-friendly, too, so now I have another Doctor episode to put into rotation for him.

Oh, and speaking of that ... . Hm. Well, I liked Casanova, so I'm willing to watch him do other things ...

And today, due to my meandering toddler and a trip to Target to buy birthday cards, I got to do some Xmas window shopping, which is always good.