Haircut, Soy, and Other Stuff

Hey, Everyone!

It's been a few weeks...

I've been super busy with work. For the past two weeks (except for Thanksgiving), I was working 12 hour days. For those of you who don't know (or have already forgotten), I write this: http://blog.coc-elite.com That's the Official blog for Champions of Champions Elite, the #1 Muay Thai show in North America. Anyway, I write their blog and I'm also in charge of their Facebook and Twitter and I write e-mails to Muay Thai people... yadda yadda.

Thanksgiving was good. Ramiro and I went over to my parents' house for dinner. We got to see my mom, dad, and my mom's brother. And Dorian:
And, on Thanksgiving, I looked like this:Two days later, I had my friend Jaz over at Vous Hair give me a haircut and now I look like:

I like it. It had been over a year since I'd had a real haircut (I don't count haircuts I give myself because they suck) and it feels soooooooooooooooo good. I love it. I think it suits me, don't you? I trust Jaz so much when it comes to my hair that I only tell her one thing: Don't go any shorter than my jawline. Other than that, anything goes! Haha, actually, this time, when I told her that she said "What about in the back...?" (It's the back, who cares!) I knew she had something special in mind.

Anyway, things were humming along really well in my life until the other day, I ingested soy. Now, those of you who know me well (or are avid readers of this blog) are probably saying "Oh no!!!" about that. And you'd be right! Soy + Lauren = Not good. For, as some of you know, I'm very very allergic to soy.

What happened was, Ramiro and I went to IHOP the other day. I had them check everything that I ordered for soy--and it was all safe--however, that doesn't really matter when they end up serving the wrong thing. I had ordered Ranch dressing (safe!), but the waiter gave me Bleu Cheese dressing (isolated soy protein). I don't blame him. It looked exactly the same. Anyway, I took one bite, looked up at Ramiro, said "This is wrong," and then I was barfing like crazy. ONE BITE. I got all puffed up (even my tongue!) and I was non-stop vomiting and ALL of my joints hurt. My elbows are always the first to go for some reason, but before the end of the day every single one of my joints was in horrible pain. I became acutely aware of just how many moving parts there are in my body.

When I get soy'd, the aftermath can last from a few days to a few weeks. I never know. Since my smaller joints (fingers/toes) are already starting to feel better I'm hoping it'll only be a few days...

Of course, now my guts are all messed up. For the first day I lived off of water & original pedialyte (that's all that would stay down), but the next day I had a small cup of brown rice and half a piece of bread. Today I tried to really "go nuts" and made myself a plain turkey sandwich (bread, 2 slices of turkey, and minimal mayo) for lunch and ended up throwing up at work. So it was back to brown rice for dinner. I'm going to be on a diet of brown rice and baby food for the rest of the week and then work my way back up to normal food starting next week. I always have to do this when I get soy'd, but it had been so long since this has happened that I'd kind of forgotten (I'd also forgotten just how horribly painful it is!)...plus I'm impatient. I want my guts to be better now!

The really sucky thing is, my parents were going to take Ramiro & me out to dinner at the North Woods Inn this weekend. For those of you who don't know, that's where white people go around Christmas-time to enjoy a steak the size of their face while being surrounded by the heads of dead animals. It's glorious. Unfortunately, we had to cancel because there's no way I'd be able to keep it down...

In other news, I got a message from an old friend today... Which I mistakenly (thank God!) thought was his way of telling me he was planning to kill himself. Sure. It's funny NOW. Anyway, I was so concerned that I actually called him up (even though I loathe talking on the phone). It was all a comical misunderstanding and I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that he plans to remain alive for quite some time (provided he isn't hit by a van...again). I'm still in quite a bit of pain, so I was grateful that he took up the burden of doing most of the talking. And supposedly he's going to write a song for/about(?) me. We'll see.

In conclusion, here's a picture of Robert & Ziggy (Ramiro & my cats):

They're very sleepy. Shhhhhhh.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
PS: Yes, it is very hard to have one condition (Hypoglycemia) that dictates I eat all the time with another condition (being "soy'd") that won't let me eat anything. Sigh. Pray for me?

http://littlezotz.webs.com

Our Cats Are On Catster

Hey, Everyone!

I talk about our cats on here a lot, so you probably feel like you know them... And now you can Friend them on Catster!! Links below:

ROBERT

http://www.catster.com/cats/1152023
ZIGGY
http://www.catster.com/cats/1152024

RINGOhttp://www.catster.com/cats/1152031

DORIANhttp://www.catster.com/cats/1152025

ROBERT'S MOM
http://www.catster.com/cats/1152026

ZIGGY'S MOMhttp://www.catster.com/cats/1152029

Have fun!

As far as human news goes, Ramiro and I are both doing well. I've been getting a lot of gigs on Textbroker, but I'm not making a "living" yet or anything. I remain optimistic! :)

Until next time...

--Lauren*

More Work In Progress

Hey, Everyone!

Those of you who read my last entry know that I've been picking up some food money (in my never-ending search for a "real" job) from my parents by re-doing their bathroom. Well, you lucky lucky people!--I have more pictures of the work in progress:Painting the area directly behind the toilet was really difficult. Also, please forgive my cell phone pictures, yet again. I tried to take some close-ups so you guys could see some of the textures though:A lighter section.A darker section.

I'm nearly finished painting the green parts of the bathroom. I just have to do the rest of the ceiling. I need to get more paints before I can do that. So, in the meantime, I've moved on to re-doing the pink cupboards/borders. My mom wants them to be white/wood with just "a little of the old pink to tie in the knobs & tile."
Here's what I've got so far:I've been using a razor to scrape off layers and layers of paint. There's the pink layer, a white layer, another pink, a cream... The pink areas in the bathroom are all very "thick." I think that my parents cupboards & drawers will probably close a bit better than they used to now that I'm stripping away all those layers.
While I'm working, I also get visitors coming in and out (mostly for their water bowl):Wolfgang and, of course:My darling Dorian.

Also, my pet rose-knee tarantula, Sabu, shed his/her skin the other day. He/she is still too young for me to sex (I'm sure a professional could, but I'm still unsure. I have my best educated guess...). I had to leave Sabu behind when I abruptly moved last December and so my mom's been taking care of him/her for me. She was very surprised/worried when she saw him/her shedding. haha. But doesn't he/she look gorgeous now???
Sabu is my second tarantula. I had a female rose-hair tarantula named Harriet when I was 5 years old until I was out of high school. She was nearly fully grown when I got her.

ON THE HOME FRONT

Back at home, things have been going fairly well. Ramiro and I are fine (knock wood!) and so are the cats. Robert's mom finally showed up again. Her nipples are all stretched out, so we know she had the kittens somewhere but we don't know where. We'll have to restart our efforts to capture her for neutering.

Lately, Ringo spends most of his time looking out the window (for hours!!) at the birds flying around outside. Ziggy was sick the other day when it was extra hot & gross, but has been just fine ever since. She's been alternating between running around & yelling at us and taking naps. And Robert has been enjoying coming in from the heat to get lots of loving and enjoy the air-conditioning.Unfortunately, the cats aren't the only "critters" who like to come in out of the heat...
Eww.

Oh, summertime...

Until next time.

--Lauren*

January 7, 1985

I turned 25 last week. I'm officially in my mid-twenties! A quarter of a century old. Wow!

For those of you who don't read my Twitter, my birthday went really well. And, in other news, I no longer work at Del Taco. Now that I've moved in with Ramiro, my job wasn't exactly close by to my new digs so it was costing more in gas money to get to work than I was actually making at work. So I resigned. I turned in my uniform on my birthday. My boss was sad to see me go and said that if I was ever back in the area and needed a job that I'd always have a place with her at Del Taco. So that was nice.

Anyway, here are some pictures from my birthday. Ramiro and I went over to my parents' house and Mom made us dinner and they all sang the Birthday song and so on. Good times. I was very full afterward.
Picture my dad took of the table just before we ate. Mom made steaks and a big salad with bleu cheese dressing (made from scratch!). It was all very good.
Since I can't eat sugar, my mom got me a loaf of sourdough bread in lieu of a birthday cake. I got to keep the loaf and have been slicing it up and using it for sandwiches all week!Omigosh! A birthday card! XDMy parents put something in the birthday card, but I wasn't allowed to look at it (no spoilers!) until I finished reading the very wordy card. Dad kept making comments and I was cracking up. Then Ramiro started laughing too when he saw me laughing. I was afraid that his drink was going to come out his nose and then I'd really lose it (but, it didn't; thank goodness). I love pictures of people laughing. :)

And, of course, I got to visit my darling Dorian Grey. I love/miss my cat so much. That was my favourite birthday gift. <3

I guess that's about it for now.

I hope everyone's having a very happy 2010!

--Lauren*
PS: A very special thank you to all of you who called, texted, and sent cards and/or presents. I know I've already thanked you guys, but I wanted to say it again: THANK YOU! You're the best. :)

Change of Address...

...Change of Life.

So.

I've moved out from my parents house. I'm now living with Ramiro.

I don't really want to discuss it right now, so please don't ask me too many questions. I know it's unexpected (for me too!!), but it's for the best.

I'll try to send my change of address to everyone I know, but if somehow you don't get the information, please feel free to e-mail me. And, provided you're someone I actually know and not some Internet crazy, I'll send it to you.

It's taking a lot of adjustment, but thus far I'm actually really happy. For one thing, since we now share a room, it's caused Ramiro and me both to be a lot less cluttered. We're totally Zen now. (haha, not quite, but the room we share is very tidy!)

I love my parents and I talk to them every day. And I visit them often. I miss my cat though. As of now, I can't talk about my cat (Dorian) out loud without crying. I couldn't afford to take him with me. But if anyone can take great care of my baby, it's Mom. She's a wonder with pets/animals.

Okay, well, expect an e-mail soon with my new address.

Until next time...

--Lauren*