The Decapitation of Nancy

Nancy is the biggest sunflower and the first to start sagging due to the weight of her seeds.

 

 

 

The rains and winds didn't help either.

 

 

 

Poor Nancy!

 

 

 

So I decapitated her.

My gardening books say to wait until the backs start turning yellow then brown, but I tried that last year. The rains soaked the flowers so thoroughly they never dried out completely and I lost a lot of seeds to mold and rot. This time I decapitated before the torrents of rain.

You can see the seeds here.

Nancy, along with some of her once-cheerful friends, is now drying on the clothes rack over the heater vent. I don't know if this will work, if the seeds should mature on the plant, but it's better than water rot. We'll see!

 

 

 

Gardening is a very violent preoccupation!

Ocean Adventure: Part Eleven: Dismal

Dismal certainly described the day: rain, wind, rain, wind.

 

Today I visited Dismal Nitch. I love the name. I think an alternative band should adopt this name and sing depressing songs about lost love and adolescent confusion.

I've driven past Dismal Nitch many times on the way to various places, but I've never stopped and never bothered to look at the memorial. It is dedicated to Lewis and Clark who stayed at Dismal Nitch in November of 1805. Clark wrote in his journal about how dismal it was back then, too.

Since the rain was beating down on me the whole time I stayed only long enough to step in some dog shit then left. Dismal, indeed.

Garden Treasure!

I found a CUCUMBER!

 

 

So weird. I think I mentioned before I grew four "cucumber" plants and they all turned out to be zucchini. Now the plant I thought was a zucchini has produced one cucumber. The squash vines and leaves are all dying back so it's easier to see what's been hiding in the jungle. It was just laying there all by its lonesome. Amazing. Am I confused or what?

Delicious! I don't even like cucumbers! It goes in my salad anyway because I grew it!

Paleo/Caveman Diet with Hashimoto's Twist: ONE YEAR!!

It's been exactly one year on the Paleo/Cavewoman Diet with a Hashimoto's Twist. How is it going?

Easier. It gets easier. At first I was hungry all the time. Not really hungry, just not satisfied with anything I was eating. I realized I really don't like vegetables and not being accustomed to eating meat, changing my diet was definitely an adjustment. Initially I was gorging on anything I could eat, but that didn't even help. I tweaked favorite recipes in hopes of satiety. Eventually, I stopped worrying and thinking about what I was eating, what I couldn't eat, and what I really wanted to eat. I started followed my instincts while attempting to follow the basic rules with a few tweaks.

What I eat consistently now : fish, beef, chicken, eggs, most vegetables, most fruits, nuts, and olive oil. All foods are organic and as healthy and wholesome as possible.

Blood Sugar.  In the beginning for the first three or four months, I kept crashing. I'd never experienced utter weakness from not eating before so this was new. If I didn't eat something every two hours or sometimes every hour, my head would start spinning and I could hardly walk. Some simple snack didn't work - I needed protein or a full meal, but even then I didn't feel satisfied. It was like I couldn't eat enough. Looking back, I think it was partly due to the overall dietary adjustment. Eating gluten and grains regularly would have kept my blood sugar elevated consistently. Cutting them out must have been a shock. OR it was the high-glycemic fruits causing too much blood sugar elevation and then a drop? I didn't realize eating bananas and dried fruits, drinking fresh-squeezed fruit juices might have been contributing to it. Once I stopped these foods regularly, I was fine, but these foods kept me from wanting sugar and sweeteners so it did get me through the initial adjustment.

Discombobulation.  After three months, I'd become unsettled and anxious about once every two weeks. I'd start pacing the kitchen, feeling really antsy, strangely anxious, like something wasn't right, all food became unappealing, and nothing sounded good but I was starving. I tried various foods in hopes they would do the trick, but nothing worked. I found eating rice is the key. All the discombobulation goes away. I feel great. I become calm. I have no idea why although it might again have something to do with blood sugar or something in my diet that's missing and rice has it. I don't eat rice all the time, maybe once every two weeks, and not nearly as often as I did before starting the diet which was almost daily. I have not experienced any side effects with rice.

Cheating. Well, maybe it got easier because I just learned how to cheat effectively? I've never been able to eat the same things over and over again without feeling crazy. Adding cheat eats helps. Here are my confessions:

Every now and then I eat green peas. I know! You are thinking peas are healthy! I think so, too, but they are legumes and not on the Hashimoto's part of the diet because of the way they affect blood sugar when digested. I eat them because they are easy and when I run out of food and can't get to a store right away, there the peas sit in my freezer. I am thankful they are there. Without peas, I might lose all willpower and go for the really bad stuff. I experience no reactions that I am aware of.

Every now and then I drink tea with agave syrup or eat something with some kind of sweetener. Bad! This has been just in the last couple months so I'm trying to rein it in. Maybe because of the cold weather change? I also eat dates and raisins every now and then.

Canola oil mayonnaise. I'm trying to get away from it. I did just read a book on a diet that highly recommends canola oil, but I'm not convinced. It's made from corn which is grown with an abundance of chemicals. I love mayo, and my brand of choice is without soybeans and all the garbage. Still, it is processed so it's cheating. I do have a recipe for Duck Egg Mayonnaise, that is just olive oil, lemon juice, salt and duck eggs, but I don't know anyone with duck eggs. Someday I'll try it.
   
About once a month I have some kind of shellfish: oysters or prawns. Again, I just need something different to eat.

Yogurt is another treat I eat on occasion. I buy the Organic Nancy's Whole Milk Yogurt. No sweeteners in it like some of her other flavors. I mix shredded apples or blueberries in it.

I've never cheated with gluten other than the few tablespoons of an ice cream sample that may or may not have had gluten as a hidden ingredient. Gluten scares me. I have also never cheated with chocolate. Chocolate is evil and is gluten's evil twin. No coffee or anything typically considered junk food like candy bars, soda pop, etc., and I haven't gone to a restaurant in over a year, happy to say.

I guess I should call this "The Cheating Diet". But it's working...

Supplements. I do have a method to my madness regarding some of these cheats. I don't do supplements. Vitamin/mineral supplements are usually synthetic, processed bits of fake nutrients and incredibly unnatural. They usually make me sick and I react badly to most herbal supplements as well. I am supported by a few authors who believe those with autoimmune diseases should not take supplements. Dr. Datis Kharrazian believes supplements are a necessary form of healing and should be taken to support the Paleo/Hashimoto's diet.  This is HIS diet. Obviously I disagree, but this puts me in a difficult position if the diet is supposed to work only with the addition of supplements. I get my nutrients through clean, wholesome, natural foods.  I justify eating yogurt as a digestive aid instead of the probiotics recommended, and oysters are really high in minerals, zinc in particular which is good for detoxification. Green peas? What is healthier than green peas? Loaded with nutrients.  Natural minerals assist in detoxification which is important due to my chemical sensitivity. I guess I should call this the Paleo/Hashimoto's/MCS diet.

OK, I can rationalize anything, but I've never had any reaction to my cheats. If I did, I would cease to indulge immediately. I even had something with real sugar in it about a month ago and had no reaction whatsoever although I kinda wish I had so it wouldn't make me feel so confident about cheating!

Blood Labs.  Last Spring my blood labs had all improved which gave me great hope.

Energy/Fatigue.  I haven't had any bouts of exhaustion since January when I just had one or two. I still get tired from time to time, usually 2pm - 5pm, but not nearly as bad as it was last year. In fact, I overworked myself this summer and had to take some time off to recuperate. This is a good sign. During the winter before starting this diet I didn't have much fatigue at all so I'm hoping to have more energy this winter than ever before!

Weight Loss.  Ah ha! Several people have emailed me or commented on their struggle with weight loss. We have all desperately wondered WHY we aren't losing weight especially with all the sacrifice. I am happy to say I finally am! I don't have a bathroom scale, but I can fit into pants I haven't been able to wear for about three years. In fact three years ago I couldn't get them on let alone button them up! They are now loose and comfortable.

Here are my thoughts on this. Initially I was gorging on anything I could eat desperate for satiety, mostly high fat foods, foods that would normally be filling: coconut milk, nuts, nut butters, and high-glycemic fruits. In January I went through a whole case of coconut milk! A doctor recommended pistachios because their good fat content is high and they are very healthy in terms of vitamins and minerals. He didn't mentioned they were exceptionally FATTENING, too. I still eat them along with pecans, Brazil nuts, and sometimes cashews, but now limited. I just got tired of nuts. I stopped eating bananas when I found out their glycemic rating was high and reduced my intake of high-glycemic dried fruits. Then I stopped eating almond butter when I found cockroach anatomy in one of the containers. I was eating A LOT of almond butter. Almonds are really good for you, but I draw the line at vermin body parts. I think giving up the almond butter did the trick. I also have decreased my portions of meat and fish. Again, I was eating a lot of anything that would fill me up. I don't seem to need as much anymore.

Some books say it takes two years for a person to see the changes in health and energy. It's been a year. I'm still not optimum, but I think I'm half way there!

Last of the Grass

The grass is GONE! No more mowing! Hooray. I left a bit for Peter:

 



 

He also has his Dr. Seuss landscape in the back, but this will give him a bit to nibble and lay upon.

See the bright red over the beauty bark? It's how I'm keeping the cats from using it as a litter box. Grrrr...

Happy Flowers!

Gardening season is winding down. The weather is still nice, partly sunny and crisp, holding on to the very last days of summertime. Plants are starting to die back. The Roma tomatoes are finally ripening:

As well as the pumpkins and squash, in time for Halloween:

The rainy season is supposed to begin this Friday and the clouds are starting to move in. Once it starts it'll continue until next July! Still, my gigantic sunflowers brighten up the yard even without sun. Each one seems to have a personality of its own. I want to name them! With sunflowers all around, I don't think I'll miss the sun so much. I want to share their happy faces, especially for Evelyn who is fighting viruses.

Samantha (front) and Selena

Antoinette

Nancy

Evelyn

Virginia

 

Beatrice Maude, Bonnie Matilda, Brunhilda May
Bertha Mildred and Bonita Myrtle

 

 

Lisa and Janine

 

Persephone

 

Rebecca (front) and Rachel

 

Cassandra

 

 

What is this plant? It's an herb. I know it is because I stole the cutting from the herb garden of the local naturopathic school. Unfortunately, I didn't write the name down. Anyone know? I might have paid more attention had I known how beautiful it would look when it blooms!

Caffeine AND Cancer in ONE!

I'd be disappointed if the corporate world didn't take advantage of cancer awareness month to market yet another toxic product:

 

 

PINK LEMONADE 5-HOUR ENERGY!!!



 

 

PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT CANCER!!!

You can eat this toxic caffeine additive AND support cancer at the same time! Caffeine and cancer, my two favorite subjects. How timely. How predictable. How hypocritical.

Cancer! Let's Celebrate!

October is here! To celebrate, the streets are littered with toxic pink plastic to make us aware it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Awareness Month organizers who are responsible for the decorations are so totally UNAWARE of the toxicity and health risks of polluting the environment with plastics. What a contradiction, but appropriately symbolic of this month-long fundraising event.

Since the 1940s the American government has been supporting cancer research in an effort to find a cure for the disease. What have they accomplished? Not much. It would be inconvenient to find a cure for something that supports so many special interest groups. Capitalism would fail without cancer.

We know what the cure is for cancer because we are constantly being informed what causes cancer. Read the newspaper, listen to the radio, watch television. Being informed isn't hard. Let's see. What have I read, listened to, and watched in the last ten years? Cell phones cause brain cancer. Deodorants cause breast cancer. Feminine hygiene products cause ovarian cancer. Teeth whitening products cause mouth cancer. Black hair dye causes prostate cancer. Shampoo ingredients cause any kind of cancer. Fresh produce laced with pesticides and chemical fertilizers causes all kinds of cancer. Birth control pills cause lots of cancer. Toluene causes cancer. Toluene? You know that ingredient found in explosives, auto supplies, fragrances and perfumes? Heck, smoking causes cancer. Is anyone not aware of that?  Do we care? Are shampoos and cigarettes still on the shelf at our grocery stores? Has sales gone down even a tiny bit for cell phones?

And what about the cancer-causing toxins in our environment that we take for granted: car exhaust, factory pollution, chemically-treated water supplies.

The government goes out of its way to assure the public that everything is safe. The FDA does all kinds of studies, tests, and trials and claims everything is safe. It's all fine. No worries. Spend your money freely.  Which special interest group is paying for the studies? How do they sway the results so their partnerships benefit by making more money? Even with all the promotion and advertising used to cover up the warnings, the truth leaks out. People really don't know what causes cancer? Is everyone blind, deaf, and dumb? And I mean dumb in the most humbling way. But no one seems to care.
 

It's not hard to find out what causes cancer. What is hard is for people to get off their asses and do something to help themselves and those around them live healthier lives. But it's too inconvenient. It's too hard. It's much easier to give money and keep their heads buried in the sand.

I've asked a few of the donation-begging sponsors of this month-long cancer guilt trip where does the money they collect go?  Those who even have an answer say with unfounded excitement, "Oh, research for a cancer cure!" But where does the money go? No one knows. I would assume someone might say the American Cancer Society, but even if this was the script they read and memorized, they would be hard pressed to know WHERE THE MONEY GOES. Who really benefits from this money? Where is this cure that was promised more than seventy years ago? That's a lot of money that's done very little.

BUT, BUT, it's to find a CURE! This has to be the most preposterous idea I could ever imagine, and people really buy into this through guilt, fear and manipulation. They haven't found a CURE in sixty years. People are dying, we know what causes cancer, and yet people only whine. It's very American to do nothing except wait for that miracle cure, that quick fix, the easy out. Maybe a pill one can take that will make everything better? Instead of making an effort by adjusting lifestyles and bad habits to save themselves and the people around them, they want it easy and giving money to a blind cause helps lessen the guilt of apathy and laziness. Let someone else find a CURE while they smoke their cigarettes, use their cell phones, and dye their hair. Then when they do get the dreaded death sentence, they and their loved ones can plead how unfair life is. Too bad there isn't a CURE. Let's have a few more spaghetti feeds to earn more money to find that CURE. Only make sure that spaghetti is freeze dried with a whole lot of unpronounceable chemical preservatives, artificial flavors, dyes and colors listed on the label.

I'm so sick of the hypocrisy. Instead of getting volunteers to run around asking for money for a worthless cause, why not challenge each other not to smoke? Why not put all that money back into the development of an electric car? Why not demand only organic food be sold in stores? Why not boycott chemically-scented products? Why not stop patronizing McDonalds and Starbucks and eat real food? Why don't people challenge themselves and others to be the healthiest they can be? Why not stop supporting cancer with their bad habits?

Nothing doing. We're capitalists. It's all about the almighty dollar. It's so much easier to lay back and give money to find a "cure" than to take responsibility. And of course, it's so much easier to hang toxic pink plastic all over the town so everyone thinks we are doing something productive when in fact,after the celebration is over, no one even bothers to take it down. It floats through the streets for months as a reminder of the wasted energy.

Happy National Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Let's Celebrate!

It's so hypocritical.

 

Drinking Coffee Will Make You Blind

Blindness was always a threat if you were doing something really sinful, like masturbating. Drinking coffee is evil as it is linked to all kinds of health issues. Try telling that to a coffee addict. If they are experiencing a bit of withdrawal, talk fast and run faster. Caffeine fiends don't like it when you threaten their addictions.



I just read this article, "Popular Drink Linked to Vision Loss" and it made me once again thankful I don't drink coffee. It says if you drink up to three cups a day, you could be at risk for blindness! Whoa! That's a lot of people going blind. I wonder if Starbucks is aware of these studies? Would they care?

Maybe this is why I have superhero vision, comparatively speaking?

The patron saint of coffee drinkers is Saint Drogo. I vote they oust him and use Saint Lucy, the patron saint of vision, for divine guidance here. She could have a cup of coffee sitting on the platter along side her eyeballs.

Here is the article for those who want more information other than my sarcasm...

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/coffee-linked-vision-loss

For more of my opinions on coffee see my post entitled, "Coffee and Caffeine Addictions: Brad Pitt is a Coke Head".

Happy Stuff: Dancing, Music, Harmony



Watching flashmob videos makes me cry. It's a reminder that everything is right with the world. People can get along and have fun. Music knows no language or cultural bounds and can magically  bring everyone together. The bigger the flashmob, the harder I cry. This video is priceless:

 

 

Web address: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120710.html


I'm posting lots of happy stuff lately as I think I've been too negative. I need some upward mobility in the attitude department. A friend sent this to me to cheer me. She says she watches it every morning before starting her day for a little lift.

Enjoy!

Here's another that is equally as delightful:

Happy Stuff: I'm a Slut

For all you educated women who speak your minds...

 

http://www.upworthy.com/according-to-this-video-im-a-slut-so-is-my-grandma?g=2&c=ufb1

HAHAHAHA!

Laughter is good.

Sunflowers!

My sunflowers are ten feet tall.

Rabbit manure is awesome.

I was having such a difficult time keeping the slugs from eating the starts, I planted some in this large, black pot. Unfortunately, too often it would get too hot and dry out the dirt. Several times I would come home to find the stalks nearly dead, drooping down to the ground. I was surprised each time they'd bounce back.

Now they look like strange aliens with their curved stalks crawling and reaching out of the pot.

 

In the backyard, TEN FEET HIGH! 

Humanity Overload and SURVIVAL!

This last weekend I went to the Jason Mraz concert at The Gorge Amphitheater and SURVIVED!  I knew this was a risk since I would be in a crowd of 7,500 people, but I took various precautions to limit my exposure and keep myself safe.

 

 

TICKET PURCHASE AND SEATING OPTIONS  The Gorge is an outdoor amphitheater so I anticipated much fresh air. I bought tickets in the General Admission area which is the grassy hillside behind the reserved seating and the fact this venue offered a roaming option made it very attractive. Believe me, I would have rather had purchased the front and center seats so I could be within winking distance of Mr. Mraz and sing, dance, and steal things right under his nose (the title of one of his CDs), but that would mean I would have been in an assigned seat, shoulder to shoulder with possibly stinky people. I couldn't take that chance. When my camping neighbors drove in and told me they had seats in the second row right in front of him I was jealous until I got a whiff of that woman's deadly stench and I said a silent prayer of thanks that I made the choice to be in General Admission. She was camping and bathed in stink! I can't imagine how stinky the non-campers were!


OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS  The Gorge is way out in the middle of a prairie-desert and hours away from civilization. There are hotels in the nearby city which is  thirty minutes away or you can camp. Camping options are at The Gorge, or at a nearby campground. I was told by a friend the Gorge Campground is one big drunken/drugging party. I'm not sure if the Jason Mraz crowd would be that rowdy, but it didn't sound like they had any security or supervision. I opted for the nearby campground and reserved a spot for Friday and Saturday night.

AIR QUALITY AND HAZE! A few weeks before the concert, friends started asking me if I was still going because of the forest fires north of the Gorge. Although the fires weren't near the Gorge (nothing much in the desert to burn!), the air quality in the eastern part of Washington was affected by the smoke.  I emailed the campground, but they said the smoke was intermittent and wasn't affecting any one's daily routine so far. A few days before Ticketmaster and the Jason Mraz Newsletter sent concert ticket holders warnings about the air quality with special precautions to be taken by anyone with lung problems or asthma. Oh great. Although I don't really have classic asthma, my issues are more like Reactive Airway Syndrome and in the past I've had trouble with campfires if the smoke was too thick. This worried me. I was afraid if the smoke was too bad on Friday, I'd be forced to leave and not see the show. I opted to arrive before the concert on Saturday knowing if the air was too bad I could drive out after the show.

Taken from my seat just as I got inside. See the haze?
Compare it to the photo above. I was a little disappointed
as I'd heard so much about the view and sunset.
Didn't see either because of the smoke.

SOLO  I also went to the concert alone. I considered asking friends, but most didn't know who Jason Mraz was, and more importantly, suppose I got really sick from the perfume, smoke or whatever and had to leave? As it was I changed my plans at the last minute and was thankful I didn't have to subject someone else to my restrictions. Still, it would have been fun to go with someone, but this is one of the choices a MCSer has to make to stay safe and to avoid being an inconvenience to others.

The fire smoke wasn't too bad. My sinuses stuffed up immediately and I had a headache, but that could have been caused by the smell of sagebrush from the prairie. I've never done well with sagebrush. Also, much of the prairie surrounding the Gorge was filled with agriculture, and therefore, pesticides. I think I did great considering.

CONVENIENCES  Upon arriving at the campground, I was able to choose any camping spot and move anytime which was nice. It was especially convenient when my camping neighbors arrived not ten minutes after me and smelled like perfume. Very nice people and big Jason Mraz fans, but very stinky.

This campground also provides a bus shuttle to the amphitheater which is located about two miles away. I wish I would have taken a picture of the buses as they were painted like graffiti. Very cool. This shuttle would be convenient, but not for someone with MCS especially having already met one of the poisoners since they were camping right next to me. So I opted to drive to the venue and park in the free parking. This might have been a hassle as I was warned once the show let's out nearly 5,000 cars will be trying to leave at the same time, but I figured I'd deal with that when the time came. At least I'd still be in my own vehicle and not sitting next to a French whore on a bus.

The parking opened at 2pm. I opted to leave the campground, give up my camping spot and go park early. It was either sit at the campground with little to do but watch unsupervised dogs crapping all over or sit at the parking area which was a field. There were also places to walk near the amphitheater and even a winery so it offered more entertainment and things to do for the next few hours.

I spent some of the time watching people arrive. The license plates were from three different states and ages ranged from babies (YES! Babies brought to the concert? Stupid parents...I hope they put earplugs on their child!) to elderly people and everyone in between. Very eclectic. Many of them stunk from twenty feet away. Some of the cars drove up and smelled of perfume and/or smoke even before the people got out of them. When this happened I closed all the doors of my van and went for a walk.

It would have been fun to carry my blanket, water and snacks and go sit on the lawn in front of the gate like everyone else with General Admission seats so I could get a good seat, but I didn't see the point. First, I would be sitting with stinky people and probably forced to move, but even if I got in early and planted myself in a great place, if someone stinky sat down next to me, I'd have to move! So I opted to wander around, look at the winery, watch the people lining up, investigate the Gorge campground, listen to Jason Mraz's sound check (couldn't see anything but the sound was really good at the winery), etc. For the first few hours most people were hanging out by their vehicles, sitting in lounge chairs, snacking and playing Jason Mraz tunes. When the gates opened, it was like a huge cattle call!

SEAT SELECTION  Once through security, ticket check, and in the amphitheater I watched people and tried to pick those that looked non-stinky. Yeah, right, HOW? Looks are always deceiving! I avoided those who were dressed fancy, women who wore lots of makeup and big hair, large men who tend to cover up their body odor with colognes. Most of the obvious stinky people headed to the reserved seats so that was fine. I finally found a spot, made friendly with a couple who was eyeing the spot next to me, sample-sniffed around them as discreetly as possible (I am a dog...). They seemed fine. When the next group started nesting on the other side of me I made small talk. No smell. Very friendly. Wholesome looking people. OK, this was fine. Feeling secure, I laid my blanket between them and thought to myself, So far, so good. Now to watch the people planting themselves in front of me. And behind me. Ready at a notice to move. No problem except someone about ten feet away smoked a few times throughout the night and, of course. the air blew it in my direction. I couldn't avoid everything so I hoped being outside would help.

Can you see Jason? Yeah, me neither. Even my binoculars didn't help much.
I used them to get a better view of the screens to the sides
of the stage. The disadvantage of the GA area is you feel
miles away from the stage!! But the sound was excellent and
he had all kinds of weird videos at the back of the stage to watch.

 

INCONVENIENCES  Once it got dark, it got freezing cold. I didn't expect that after 80 degrees all day and hot mugginess. I had been prepared earlier with extra sweaters, but I watched all these other people in shorts, tank tops and sandals and thought I was being over prepared. I have no idea how they survived! I at least had long sleeves and a coat. At one point I was looking through my binoculars and couldn't focus because I was shivering so hard.

Being cold makes one really, really susceptible to junk food! Those warm French fries were calling to me. Then that hot Chicken Teriaki Rice Bowl screamed to me to come buy it. I was thankful the lines were so long as I didn't have the patience to wait. It was either see a concert or stand in line for food. I never caved, but very tempted. I just wanted to hold something hot!

Also, sitting on a hillside takes some special knowledge. The constant gravity pull downhill makes your butt HURT PAINFULLY. I could not get comfortable. I now see why there is a mad dash to the terrace part of the General Admission area which has flat grass and angled cement walls to lean back on. You can see part of the terrace in my photo above as I was standing right in front of that area. I'll know this for next time.

Another issue was the restroom facilities. All outhouses at the campgrounds and the Gorge. I don't know what chemicals they use in them but I became very skilled at holding my breath while inside. Besides the chemicals, I think it's so gross to have urinals in them. Why can't men be taught to SIT when at a public toilet? It's very scary seeing all the wet at your feet and then having to make sure your pants don't drag in it when sitting on the throne. Eeewww...Hmmmm...toilet woes.

Jason Mraz was outstanding. I've been watching him for years in concert footage so I knew he was an excellent performer. It was wonderful.

I left during the last encore song and high-tailed it to my van and out of the parking lot. No problem. Got to the campgrounds and found a site with no one around, slept, awoke the next morning and my sinuses cleared when I was half way home! No lung issues. No nausea. Throat never closed up once. Only slight headache and I'm still clearing my throat and coughing today, the next day.

Would it have been nice to go with a group of people, for the whole weekend, camp next to nice, but smelly people, take the shuttle there and back, sit in line with the other GA ticket holders bonding in our love for Jason Mraz, and reserve the expensive seats right under Jason Mraz's nose? Yeah. Oh well. I do what I can do to survive.

I SURVIVED! Even with all the precautions and worry, being able to do something I haven't been able to do for a long time let's me feel like I'm normal. Who would have thought being "normal" is cause for celebration!!??

HOORAY!