For five months, I've been plagued with unbearably itchy eyes. I went to the doctor as soon as they started itching because I was worried that I had pink eye (or, worse, one of those scary fungal infections that they say you can get from contact solution). He assured me that my eyes were fine and I just needed some eye drops, but those didn't help at all.
So, since my eyes were still driving me CRAZY, I finally decided to go back (all these months later) and demand an allergy test. His office just called me with the results. Apparently I had a high reaction to only one thing: cats!
But there's no way I'm giving up Pepper. For this face, I'll gladly become a slave to allergy meds:
Guess what! Today Mr. G surprised me with tickets to see Eric Clapton! So now I have two shows to look forward to this year: Clapton in May and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in July (that was Mr. G's Valentine's Day gift to me). Isn't he the best?? I wanted to see Bob Dylan when he was in town last summer, so these concerts will kind of make up for missing that one.
I'm also still keeping my fingers crossed for a Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr tour. I'd be willing to travel anywhere in the country to see them—and then we could add another entry (or two) to our list of rock 'n' roll trips. So far we've been to Cleveland (in 2001) to see a John Lennon exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; to Las Vegas (in 2002) to see Paul McCartney play the MGM Grand; to Memphis (in 2005) to see Graceland, Sun Studio, and the Gibson Guitar Factory; and again to Vegas (in 2007) to see Beatles LOVE.
We've also thought about driving to St. Louis sometime to see Chuck Berry perform at Blueberry Hill. The guy will turn 88 this year and he's still rocking the house once a month. I just hope we don't put off that trip until it's too late ...
I've managed to stay well this entire winter, but this morning I woke up with a fever blister.
Granted, being sick isn't the only thing that brings on these annoying blisters, which is exactly why I don't call them "cold sores." They can also pop up when I don't get enough sleep, during times of stress, after being exposed to the sun, and upon experiencing any sort of trauma to the lip area. But since (a) I've been sleeping better lately (thanks, in part, to my braids), (b) we're in the dead of winter, and (c) no one has punched me in the mouth recently, I can only assume one thing: My streak of good health must be coming to an end.
It's really quite amazing how just one little fever blister can make you feel so completely wiped out. Thank goodness for Abreva, which usually clears up my blisters within a couple of days. Before this miracle cream came along, I had to rely on Famvir, a prescription pill for genital herpes (as you can imagine, it was a little embarrassing to have to explain to people that I wasn't taking it for that reason). Before I had Famvir, though, the blisters (and the scabs they left in their wake) would just run rampant on my lips and the surrounding skin—not pretty! So I guess things aren't as bad as they could be.
Mr. G might disagree, though: Because fever blisters are so contagious, I must withhold all smooches until my lips are healed. Sad!
