I’m at a party/at Echo Park

Guess what’s back? They call it…breakbone fever. Sinister! It seems unlikely but not impossible. You know you’re in a good situation when they’re testing you for weird tropical shit. I kid you not, they took about a cup of blood today, not just a couple of wee vials.

“Are you lightheaded?” asked the NP.

“Not more than I have been lately,” I said.

They also took pee and a chest x-ray. There are weird spots in my right lung and some fluid. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my past as a huffer delinquent. The NP pushed on my ankle and it left a dent like memory foam. AUUUGH x infinity.

I got tapered off Prednisone and it was awful for a few days, but they gave me more at the urgent clinic today. So I am feeling a lot better already, whew. I kind of made a resolution to go back to living life now that I’m out of paid time off and it’s been a month, but I’m not going crazy. And I’m not really doing anything at night since that’s the worst.

Did you know that you can cook a lot sitting down? I didn’t. Heh.

Strudel helped me decorate Irish whisky cupcakes and I interrogated my sister about how Irish we are. Half maybe? American mutts. My sister knows more than I do, and she remembers more from our mother. She reminded me that a lot of our family is orphans out of burned down orphanages and whatnot. I know nothing about my father’s family except that his father died of something brain related (?) when he was young.

“The Don Drapers,” I joked. I expected to feel a yearn when she told me all this, but really I feel let off the hook. Genealogy is a real rabbit hole. The girls and I buy old timey photos we like and call the people in the “Aunt Helen” or whatever and give them backstories and I hang them up. Close enough.

After dinner, which mostly cooked itself, I lay on the floor and we watched Saturday Night Fever. I’d heard it was campy and dark, but I didn’t know there was a gang rape scene in a car. AY CARUMBA. I just wanted to see some disco dancing after watching Freaks and Geeks with Franny recently.

I also made peppermint patties sitting at the table.

Strudel turned nine last week and I rallied (codeine) and took her to Benihana. She had a nice time.

“I have an electrical kit! It’s from Australia!”

I am delighted and thrilled to say the bathroom is almost done. Last week I was (almost) sleeping through the tile saws, etc. I felt bad because I was making the guys coffee every day, but I fell off when I fell off. These guys are so easy to work with, I love them. What is left is the plumber for fixtures and a couple of little tweaks.

The bathroom’s quite modern but I feel I’ve captured some of the flavor of the upstairs bathrooms. The nice thing about building a dated bathroom is that you don’t have to feel sad that it’s out of date when you try to sell in 10+ years. I realized not too long ago that I have been spending my whole adulthood trying to get back to the happy part of my childhood, which was spent in the houses of grandparents who had a bunch of 50’s and 60’s crap. Bad taste–it’s Freudian, man.

10 thoughts on “I’m at a party/at Echo Park

  1. Holy crap, the hits just keep coming! My husband just gutted our basement bathroom and I look at your finished pictures with longing and envy. PLEASE get better soon. Good Lord.

  2. The good news is I don’t believe I’m getting worse! :D

    I’m sorry you’re at the beginning of your bathroom journey. Urgh. Next stop for us is converting the second/basement living room next to the new bathroom down there into a bedroom ourselves, which does not involve plumbing or complex electrical, thank you Zod.

  3. The bathroom is absolutely gorgeous. I love all that counter space for the vanity/sink area. And the tub. I would live in there. Hold all my calls.

    Strudel for Electric President!

    I’m so glad you are on the mend.

  4. Thank you! I’m sure it’s not everyone’s cuppa, but I looooove it unplatonically.

  5. A friend of mine redid her bathroom recently (you two have similar bathroom taste apparently) and she had to fire her original tile guys and get another company out. She has OCD (literally) and the crappy tile the first company laid down was driving her crazy (literally). She almost went back on medication because it was so stressful.

    Your bathroom looks AWESOME, I covet your tub, and your foods look great.

    I hope you recover soon, and fully. How awful!!

  6. Thank you on both counts!

    Around January I did have some throat-closing moments of terror as I realized I am 1. an amateur “designer” of rooms and that I was committing to something for a looong time. I may notice something down the line but these guys do really tight work as far as I can see. I had them do a small one off job when I moved in as a test.

  7. Wow…an exotic disease and glamourous bathrooms. Slightly in awe that you still baking when you feel so rubbish.

  8. Make sure they rule out Rat Lungworm exposure. It sounds horrid I know but it shows up on the Big Island from time to time on raw fruit and salads.

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