My mom decided that while I was here, we should look into switching my car insurance from Progressive to a less-expensive company… you see, I originally was with this less expensive company, but I had a few… snafus, shall we say.

Anyway, three years has passed and so now it’s time to shop around… my mom loves doing this kind of thing. So, a pot of coffee, a couple of cookies and mum started dialing numbers (she first had to harp at my health insurance company and let me tell you, you missed out on something very, very special—she’s a firecracker).

The third number we called was the new insurance company (the one my parents use). We got a very pleasant, youngish guy who had to go over all my information with me… and while doing so, managed to share with me that he: used to live in Alaska (for 7 years), was in the military, hasn’t changed his plates from there (he lives in TX now), was divorced, went to Corpus Christi for Spring Break, has no kids and oh, by the way, is very single.

I got hit on by an insurance guy 2000 miles away this morning, while sitting at my mother’s kitchen table (while she muffled laughter), wearing pajamas, with a cat sitting on my lap.

My mom’s response after I hung up the phone… “Well, if someone starts stalking you, you’ll know who it is.. ’cause he has your home address and all.”

And then she laughed.

Cadbury eggs. Disgusting, yes, but disgusting in a drooly, delicious, yummy kind of way? Absolutely. 🙂

And did you know that they now make a 12-pack of mini Cadbury eggs?! Holy crap, they are wonderful. No goo on your hands (well, less anyway) and, y’know, there’s 12 of them.

(I also like candy corn.)

What’s your favorite? (And Moo will say “Peeps” and no offense dude, but gag. lol)

Well my bili only dropped .9, so unfortunately, it’s still not normal.

On the other hand, all of my other numbers have dropped out of the red.

My dad’s decided that I probably definitely have Gilbert’s, and this cold (and other stress, like work and not going home) will probably keep my bilirubin slightly elevated.

Lovely.

Now I get to go back to work and tell my boss that he can’t stress me out because I’ll turn yellow again. hehehe 😉

Well I’ve finally been found out. The people know that I’m in town and I’ve already had two phone calls and three emails today. Word spreads like the bloody plague around here, sheesh.

I’ve started looking for airfare to go home, so I’m still trying to slip out without having to see anyone. Sounds terrible, I know, but it’s really not. I’ll see everybody next time I’m in town.

One of the people who emailed me told me they had run into someone I used to know. Someone who knew about a little dream business I had, someone who I had talked about doing it with and someone who is now doing it… without me. And it was my dream.

That shouldn’t bother me, I suppose. I can still do it, but that’s not really the point now, is it?

I don’t know if I’m more upset because they’re doing it or because they’re doing it without me.

We launched another site today… oh the stress. I’m now coming down off a two-pots-of-coffee, up-at-7AM high… and I am crashing, lol.

Did you know that if you stop all caffeine/stimulants all together for two months, when you start back again, you’ve lost all your tolerance? I used to be able to down a pot of coffee and sleep like a baby. Now I’m jittery and will undoubtedly be wired for the rest of the night.

Perhaps I’ll see if I can go stalk that person on MySpace tonight (if they’re on there) and leave snippy comments about STEALING SOMEONE ELSE’S DREAM.

Ahem…::clears throat::

Not that I’m at all perturbed by that or anything.

Check an old email account, find an email from an old high school detailing their recent admittance to the weird world of MySpace, click on the link and subsequently find scads of high school friends (all still living in this area) on MySpace.

Oh. dear. sweet. misery.

Somehow, in the several years we’ve been out of high school, they’ve:

1. become swingers.
2. had their little brother/sister get married.
3. forgotten how to a) spell and b) use proper grammar.
4. become raging alcoholics.

And what have I concluded from this little jaunt down memory landfill? That none of them have grown up and that I’m lucky as hell I moved out of the area.

I might be scarred from this experience.

I’d handle it so much better if I could down some vodka. That always helps. 😉

For her, I shall explain what the hell I’ve been talking about for two months.

Bilirubin: This number says the quantity of bile salt that’s in your blood. Typically the number is between .2 and 1. As it rises, bile salt backs up in your blood stream and your skin starts taking on a yellow shade. Then you start to itch and the whites of your eyes turn yellow. My dad (and the doctors back here) have never someone with a bilirubin over 15—I hit 29.7 at the peak, which means I was dark yellow and itchy as hell.

ALT and AST: These are liver enzyme numbers. Typically they range between 5 and 50, give or take. Once you start passing 50, there’s something wrong with your liver. These numbers tell the doctors that something is attacking the liver and it needs checked out.

Albumen: This is a protein number. Normally you’re supposed to be between 3.0 and 3.5. My dad calls it the “starvation index,” the lower it is, the more starved your body is for protein. I had hit about 2.1 I think, which was why I dropped so much weight and why I had no energy. I’m at a 4.1 now, which comes from eating a ridiculous quantity of protein and fat—i.e., bacon. 🙂

Does that explain it Le Will?

At least it’s not rising, that’s what I keep telling myself.

My AST dropped to within normal range and my albumen is very high (which means, THANK GOD, I can stop eating bacon)… but my ALT is still high and the bili’s at a 3.8 (normal is .2 to 1). Argh.

I know I should be thankful that it’s dropping, and I am, don’t get me wrong… but I had hoped this would be my first week of normal labs. Two straight weeks of normal and we get to talk about me going home… the insider misses home.

And vodka.

We’re doing our taxes today.

Because for part of last year I was self-employed, there was a good chance I was going to owe the IRS somewhere in the vicinity of $2000. Needless to say, I was stressed this morning.

Then the tax guy came, did some magic with his pencil and special paper and voila! the government owes me $1000. I’m a little confused on the particulars, but he worked the numbers and deducted (all of which is legal and above board, no worries) and now I’m planning to absolutely take a little vacation this year… 🙂

We haven’t gone for the bloodwork yet, but I’m going to guess I’m around a 2 for the bilirubin. Hopefully all the rest of the numbers have dropped into their appropriate brackets and I’ll be able to head home in two or three weeks.

At which time I will then start planning a well-deserved vacation. Possibly to a sunny little island in the Pacific. 😉

He cooks breakfast (good).
He gives me meds (eh, hard to say).
He plays with my cats (very cute).
He won’t let me drink any liquor (bad). Granted, I have a liver problem, but I’m back living at my parent’s house (for the time being) and a girl needs a drink. Somebody get the GIRL a drink.

Reason I’m telling you this: he used my bathroom and forgot to a) put the toilet seat down and b) flush. Eww.

Oh, the joys of living at home.

BTW, Bad News Hughes updated. It’s hysterical, of course.