My Brain Hurts

It seems that when my body has time to fall apart, that is precisely what it decides to do. During times of great stress in the past, I would hold myself together beautifully until a day off from work, the morning of which I would magically awaken with something like malaria or Hantavirus. Yesterday I was feeling much better emotionally, although I was still a little sullen, and I had a decent day. Therapy went well, and Bev listened to my concerns about my son chasing moving vehicles and the dangers that go with his condition. She told me his autism-like obsession with wheels would pass, but it was really phrased as more of a question than a statement. I detected her voice going up in tone ever so slightly. I don't know how long this will last, and neither does she. I don't imagine my son will be 35 years old sitting on the asphalt in a parking lot, hugging car tires, and screaming "WHEELS!" but I could be wrong. I have been wrong before.

I was really looking forward to today, which would be a day without therapists. I would spend the first half of the day with my son and the second half of my day/evening working. Wrong. I was awakened by the Mother of all Headaches at 5:30 a.m. My eyes were watering from pain. It was disappointing, as I actually got a decent night's sleep on my own. I might have slept too hard. My husband took one look at me and offered to stay home. I do not accept help very graciously, but today I thanked him and immediately went back to bed after taking some medicine to knock myself out. I slept for about an hour and then got into a shower so hot it would kill live lobsters. That felt wonderful. Brian went to Safeway to buy two bottles of ibuprofen (one generic and one Advil) for me, a bottle of Excedrin, a bottle of Aleve for his broken ribs, and a half rack of his beloved Code Red Mountain Dew, now a bargain at 25 cents a can on sale. The checker looked at him quizzically and tentatively commented, "Have a nice day..." I sent him back to work, as I am amongst the living at this point. Sometimes I need just a couple hours to fight these off. I start my headache diary today, as they are becoming a horrible problem, and I don't have time for them. If my doctor told me today that I had a brain tumor, I think these days I would respond, "Well, of course I do." Luckily, I think I am afflicted only with age and changing hormones.

Erik is doing well. We were in the car going to Gramma and Boppa's this week when I heard, "One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine..." coming from the back seat. His memory is obviously amazing, as he knows the words in many songs already. I can stop singing, and he will say the next word, although he isn't actually singing yet. We did do some LA LA LA LAs in the car yesterday, and he enjoyed that. He also has some of his books memorized. He obviously knows his ABCs, although he hasn't said the whole alphabet yet. Again, he will say a couple of letters if I stop reciting the alphabet in the middle. There are made-up words that make him laugh for some reason. We yell, "DAD-DOOOOOOO!" all of the time for no reason at all. He thinks that is quite amusing. When I taught him how to say "banana," I said it like an announcer at a wrestling match might scream it over the loudspeaker (BAAAHH-NAHHHH-NAHHH! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!). That is how he says banana now. He is also very fond of saying, "PEEEEEE-YOUUUUU!" with great panache upon soiling himself, which I think is the funniest thing I have ever heard. He still does not put two words together much but can say many single words. He knows so many words now, I can't name them all. He will say, "Buh-bye" and "Dada," but he won't say, "Buh-bye, Dada" quite yet. There are times I look at him and know exactly what he wants me to say or do, but I am trying to get him to ask.

We are spending the weekend in a beach cottage with my friend Shaena, her husband Andy, and Baby Samantha. Shaena and I could have fun anywhere. She appreciates my very black sense of humor, and I admire so many things about her. She inspired me to strike out on my own, buy my own home, and be independent for as long as I was. Her comment on my last post reminds me that it has been 18 years since we met on Halloween through a mutual friend. I was the copilot in her Firebird on many weekend nights. We would cruise the pool hall parking lot blasting AC/DC or Vixen and try to stir up the biggest commotion possible with the biggest hair possible, thanks to can after can of Aqua Net hairspray. I think both of us are responsible for the giant hole in the ozone layer (sorry about that). I especially enjoy getting Shaena to laugh and squirt her drink out her nose. She is my very favorite mark, as she also emits the cutest little snort if the joke was especially funny. Since I have known her for so long, I know how to effectively push her buttons, and she has learned to postpone sipping her beverage until I am finished talking. I can still get her, though, if I fake her out, talk really fast, and time it just right. In turn, she brings me to the point of urinary incontinence with her own jokes and snappy movie lines she has memorized to recite during times that are in desparate need of lightening up. I will, of course, take photos of our outing. Erik has never seen the ocean, and I am hoping the weather will be nice enough that we can take a walk on the beach. Of course, I'll have to remove Erik's braces so he doesn't rust. ;)

Hey. I think my headache is finally gone.