Six random things meme

Acmegirl has tagged me for the six random things meme. I’ve finally managed to get around to actually writing a post, so here it is! The rules:


Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I am obsessive. It’s weird, though, because I only obsess about some things. An occasional movie or singer or book will suck me in and eat my brain. And it’s all I can think about, all the stinking time.

2. My life is a musical. I enjoy soundtracks, but I never expected for my life to turn into a musical. This is mostly due to TM, who likes to sing at me. The really interesting part is that he never actually knows the lyrics, so they get made up on the spot. This is how we now have songs like “Louie Cat of Horrors” and “O Figgy Tree”. Seriously.

3. I dance in the darkroom. What am I supposed to do, just stand there and wait?

4. I cry. Over anything. I’ve seriously cried over a Publix commercial. And if anybody else is crying, I cry too. This sometimes even happens with characters on TV or in movies.

5. I binge read. This is why I stopped reading for pleasure shortly after I began college. If I like a book (and sometimes even if I don’t), I sit and read until I’m finished.

6. If I weren’t an immunologist, I would totally be a meteorologist! I sometimes really think I missed my calling. Maybe that’s what I’ll do if I ever retire.

I’m a little late to the game on this one, so I’m not going to tag anyone (mostly because I’m too lazy to dig through my reader and see who hasn’t already done this meme). If you haven’t done this one, and you wanna, go ahead!

A musical morning

Shingles update: I feel so much better this morning. I actually managed to get some good sleep last night. It doesn’t feel like my head is going to explode anymore. I’m not too itchy and my back and side are significantly less sore, and the rash is starting to dry up. It seems like I’m going to make it!

Warning: Self-indulgent rambling follows! :)

I have to admit, I’ve been a bit self-indulgent this morning. One of my favorite ways to sort of let things out (and this is a little weird, I think), is to listen to country music and let myself cry. I don’t know why exactly, but it makes me feel better.

And now, this morning’s playlist so far (with a little self-indulgent commentary):
• “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” by Carrie Underwood
I think I’ve heard this song exactly once that I didn’t cry for serious. There are three spots that inevitably get me:
“Tell my baby sister that I’ll see her in the fall” My sister has issues, but I love her to pieces. Still not really sure why this gets me going so much.
“Tell Mema that I miss her, yeah I should give her a call” I guess this part gets me because I call my grandmother Mema, and I do miss her even though I talk to her often. This is the line that made me cry the first time I ever heard this song.
“Make sure you tell Daddy that I’m still his little girl” I think this is the one that gets me the most now. It’s been a little over a year since my dad died, and I’ve handled it pretty well, but this line breaks me down every time.

• “I Go Back” by Kenny Chesney
This one makes me think about my dad a bit now too, but it really makes me think about my great grandmother.

• “The Woman With You” by Kenny Chesney
This is one of my unofficial them songs. For some reason I always end up listening to this in the midst of the songs that make me cry. It just makes me smile a little.

• “Good Directions” by Billy Currington
I just thought about this one while I was poking around on YouTube. It’s a cute song, and it makes me think about home. Are you ready for a small southern town story? :) This song was written my Luke Bryan. His sister was my sixth grade teacher. We actually adopted Charlie from her. The store that is mentioned is right up the street from my mom’s house. Shrug…it just all sort of amuses me. Pandora plays the song for me, and I think about how I know these people and places. And it reminds me how happy I am that I’m never going to live there again!

Not just for your roof

Because my life is never interesting enough without some sort of drama, it turns out that I have shingles.

And now, a lesson on why vaccines are important, and why I get so angry when someone says, “Well, if your child is vaccinated, then my unvaccinated child doesn’t pose a risk.” That, boys and girls, is complete and utter nonsense!

I had the first hint of a rash on my back on Saturday. It itched, I scratched; I had TM look at, he said it looked like a bug bite. No worries. I stuck a Scooby Doo bandaid on it and went on my merry way. It was still pretty itchy on Sunday and Monday, but I just tried to ignore it. Bug bites itch, right?

By Monday afternoon, I had a bit of a tender spot on my left side under my arm. I went to the bathroom and checked it out. Lo and behold, the mother of all rashes. I also discovered multiple splotches on my back. Because it was so itchy, I figured it must be poison ivy again.

I finally went to the doctor on Thursday, since it seemed to be getting worse. Voila! Shingles!

In that time frame I managed to expose a pregnant woman and an infant too young to be vaccinated*. I also went to two different grocery stores, worked in the lab, sat in a couple of seminars, etc.

So take a moment to imagine the possibilities. What if my shingles were something more highly contagious? What if it was more dangerous? How much damage could I have done?

*Hopefully they’re both safe since the exposure was when the rash was in its earliest stages.