Hitting the Books

Well, we just got back from the allergist. They tested the Punkin for 56 different allergens (poor thing looked like a swarm of mathematical mosquitoes had mauled her back.). And it turns out that she is allergic to (drumroll please):

Cow’s Milk (butter, cheese, cream, whey, yogurt, caseinates, hydrolysates, etc) Eggs (whites, yolks, globulin, mayonnaise, meringue, etc.) Peanuts (peanut butter, oil, hydrolyzed plant protein, etc.) Tree Nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, nut oils and butters, pecans–that was her biggest allergen) Oats

Those are the 5 that we have to avoid completely until they test her again next year. That doesn’t count the ones we have to avoid for a week or so, then add in one at a time to see if there’s a reaction. Those are corn (do you know just how many things have corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup in them?!), apples, pears, beef, turkey, chicken, and tomatoes.

Now we get to carry an Epi-Pen, just in case. Her allergies seem to be only skin-related, but the allergist wanted us to be prepared if one day her body decided anaphylaxis would be a fun thing to experience.

The good news is:

1. These are somewhat common childhood allergies, and the Punkin will most likely outgrow most of them in the next year or so.
2. She is also just peachy with wheat and soy. Between those two and all the fruits and veggies she can have we should still be able to give her a nice varied diet. Thank goodness for the Internet and all those free recipes!
3. She’s not allergic to her beloved doggies.

Thanks to those of you who sent well-wishes. I really appreciate them

I’ve not abandoned blogging. It’s just been a crazy week. For one, I’ve actually been writing (omigosh! say it ain’t so!). For two, the Punkin has had the worse case of eczema and hives. We go in for allergy testing in the morning–we suspect milk allergies, but there may be other things involved. It’s rough, watching your little one sit there and claw and itch and cry, and not be able to do much, other than drug her up on Benedryl and Zyrtec. But with testing, you have to stop any antihistimines 3-5 days before testing, so the past few days have been real fun. Thank God for infants’ Motrin.

Hopefully I’ll get some real articles up real soon.

An article over at Romancing the Blog suggested using the computer game The Sims to create characters and then put them through scenes. Knowing my extreme addictive nature, I knew better than to actually get the real game (I would never get any writing done. The one time I played Civilization, I stayed up until 530am two nights in a row playing.).

Then I tried downloading The Sims 2 Body Shop, a supposedly stand-alone program that allows you to make your own characters. Tried an entire day to get the silly thing to work. Downloaded it from 2 different sources. Installed and uninstalled and reinstalled. I finally gave up and went to play elsewhere. (Anybody else have any programs they use instead? Or are magazine clippings still the preferred way to go?)

What I ended up doing is using Yahoo avatars to make a simple picture of some of the main characters from the works I have in progress. Now I’m putting them up in the sidebar as I work on them.

For example, I’ve been working on a science fiction/fantasy/historical recently. So I put the heroine, Dr. Sheridan Lee, up in the sidebar. If Brynna or Kyp or Tavi show up, I’m working with my fantasy trilogy. And Andrea is from Widow Walk, a historical romance set during the War of 1812.

A totally unnecessary thing to do, but kinda fun.