Jessica - I'm studying to be an English teacher, indeed. The problems I see with that first exam (the one that took place last Thursday) are that I was unable to properly wrap up 2 parts (out of 3), and I had to work on three documents that dealt with something that didn't ring many bells (tourism in the 18th century... as if I had ever studied that). So I have a bad feeling, but I also have no idea about *what* exactly the examiners will use to grade my... hum... 'performance'.

Allison - I hope your cold is getting better. That AC thing can be really annoying (and I guess we're even more sensitive to cold, since we've lost weight!).

Shannon - So far so good, I think I've eaten 'properly' again in a kind of reflex. Actually, when I was riding on the train to go back home, I felt disgusted, not at myself or whatever, but just in a physical way, as if my body really demanded something else than bread and sugar. Going back to veggies really wasn't difficult at all.

Oh yes! I don't know if I had announced it in the past weeks, since I didn't have much time to browse my usual forums and websites, but my sister is almost 5 months pregnant! By the end of November (or early December), I'll be aunt to a little Evan. And I've already found plenty of silly stuff I'll buy for him... like a mini Darth Vader costume and an octopus furry toy... Yeah, I'll be a very silly aunt.

We have a microwave that's built in over our stovetop, but I think whoever connected it when the house was built didn't connect the vent right. The vent basically doesn't work at all. Luckily, we don't usually have massive amounts of smoke coming off the stovetop!

The giant bug bite on my leg is causing problems. It got bigger over the course of the day yesterday and more swollen, and started to hurt more. We stopped by to see FIL (he's a doctor) on the way home and had him take a look. He gave me betamethasone cream to put on it and some Benadryl, and told me that if I get a fever, the bite spreads above my knee, or it starts to look infected and have lines coming out, I should go straight to the doctor. None of that has happened yet so I'm just keeping an eye on it for now. It's starting to turn purple and black in the middle, but after putting the cream on it the blistery part seems to have gone down.

Also, Kery - congrats to your sister! Being an aunt sounds like fun!

Jessica~warm wet compresses! Draw out the icky stuff! Both my kids once got a teeny tiny little bite on their calf and ended up in the ER or doctor's office because they got infected. Both times I was commended for doing warm wet compresses before hand--but it still got worse. My poor son's was so bad they thought that they'd have to surgically go in to remove the infection. Fortunately, it didn't get that far, but he has a nice scar now.

I'm starting to think I might have bronchitis. Breathing hurts like you don't know. DH went to the urgent care yesterday and was told he had a cold and needed to tough it out but they prescribed Motrin and Vicodin for the pain (he has a bad sore throat). He only filled the Motrin and he says it works fine for the pain. I guess if I get worse as the day progresses, I'll end up in urgent care as well.

The upside is that nothing tastes good. Food is totally unappealing. I eat only because I know I have to. This is totally foreign to me! I drink copious amounts of water and I dropped 2 pounds yesterday. I'm sure it's only temporary, though.

Oh no Allison, I hope you feel better soon! I've never had bronchitis so I couldn't give any advice (except maybe a humidifier?), but for a bad sore throat I recommend tea with honey and of course chicken soup.

Hmm, my FIL told me that I should use cold wet compresses to reduce the swelling. I guess warm draws out the icky stuff, and cold reduces swelling? In any case it's not really practical to do while I'm at work but I'll think about it tonight. After putting more betamethasone cream on it this morning it's not really aching or itching, but it is still swollen. I'm trying to keep it elevated but I look pretty ridiculous with my foot up on my desk while I'm typing!

Okay, now I have to rant about something that is totally off topic. Does anyone else think that doctors are really prescription-happy lately? Allison, I can't believe the ER prescribed Vicodin for a cold! Seriously! Especially given all the recent concern about acetaminophen overdoses and liver damage! A friend of mine went to see a nurse a few weeks after having a baby because she was so exhausted from lack of sleep and taking care of the baby that she was worried about her health. They gave her a prescription for Prozac and told her she'd have to take it for the rest of her life. What is wrong with these people???

Jessica~I think it depends on the doctor. When my kids were little (and I worked at a hospital) we knew which doctors would prescribe antibiotics regardless of whether the kid had a cold or something that would benefit from antibiotics. That doctor had far more kids that ended up in the hospital because they'd develop an immunity to the antibiotic, so when they got something for which an antibiotic would help, it didn't. I didn't go to that doctor!

As for DH getting an RX for vicodin--he didn't fill it. He called and we discussed it and decided that we didn't need a strong med in the house (I hate vicodin and won't take it--it makes me feel like my head is full of cotton). He did fill the prescription motrin which is 3x stronger than the otc kind and it is helping his sore throat. Other than that, the doctor told him to tough it out as it was just a bad cold that he'll probably hang onto for 2 weeks.

My own doctor is concerned about my high cholesterol, but doesn't want me to take statin drugs. He's given me diet changes and vitamin recommendations to try first. DH also has high cholesterol and his doctor immediately put him on statins. I guess we'll see soon who is getting lower cholesterol as it's been about a year since it all started.

Yeah, I guess I just don't understand those strong painkillers. My parents keep them in the house too. I was prescribed Darvocet after I had surgery on my wrist, and after I took it it made me feel totally nauseous and out of it, and I ended up laying on the floor in the bathroom trying not to move the entire day until it wore off. After that I just took tylenol instead, and I try to avoid anything stronger.

Prescription Motrin is really just like taking a couple extra pills of regular Motrin so it doesn't seem as bad to me. I guess just the idea that they'd say, you have a cold, here's some Vicodin sounds totally bizarre.

Hi all,

We're going on day 3 of severe thunderstorms and downpours here, with no immediate end in sight. It makes me want to curl up on the couch with some (light) popcorn and a good movie. This morning at about 5 AM all the frogs in the yard were sooo happy about the wet that they were singing to us rather loudly. I believe BF muttered something about shooting the frogs. Not that he actually would, but they were being really loud. Like when a bird decides to twitter outside your window really, really early.

I was prescribed some strong pain meds after my foot surgery 2 years ago - oxycotin, I think. I wasn't in that much pain and they didn't make me feel anything different except I was sleepy, so I only took 2 and stopped. I suppose if I'd been in real pain I would have wanted them, but they ended up just not being necessary. The same doctor gave me several rounds of antibiotics to avoid infection. The first was necessary (when we found the needle in my foot it was because it was inflamed, my body reacting to this foreign body), but even after surgery, I felt unnecessary, since my body didn't show any signs of infection/reaction. I agree that it's scary how routine antibiotics are, given the amounts of developing antibiotic resistance.

Kery, congratulations on your forthcoming nephew! You'll be a great aunt! about your results. I'm sure you did really well and enjoy your holiday, you deserve it!

Allison, Pat, Jessica, I hope you all feel better soon.

Ugh. Back to staring out the window at the rain. I hope it's sunnier where everyone else is!

Jessica - I've seen the same thing with prescriptions, and it does seem to vary from doctor to doctor. DSS's doctor gave him antibiotics at the drop of a hat in the first three years of his life because he got so many ear infections, but doesn't prescribe them now. DH, myself & his ex all go to the same doctor, and the ex will go as soon as she has any symptoms of a head cold or respiratory problem and get a steroid shot. The last time she was feeling cold symptoms she got a steroid shot at one of the Minute Clinics at a Walgreens! They had never seen her before and had no access to her records, she just went in and said that she needed a steroid shot. I've gotten serious painkillers prescribed for a sore throat, had sleeping pills prescribed when I had a cold and commented that I wasn't sleeping from the coughing, antibiotics at the drop of a hat, steroid pills prescribed for standard seasonal allergies before Zyrtec went over the counter... and on and on... Luckily, since I lost some weight and started exercising more I go tot he doctor a lot less. Oh, and I think you are right on hot v. cold compresses. My mom is a nurse and she always tells me cold for swelling, hot for pulling out the toxins, though she also says you do what you can tolerate.

I don't have any trouble with prescription Motrin, it is like taking more of the OTC version. Vicodin & Percoset knock me out, make me feel icky for days and leave me somewhat bloated and constipated. (TMI, probably! )

Allison - that is interesting that your doctor suggested diet and vitamin changes and DH went on statins for cholesterol. I would be interested in knowing who has the greatest change at your checkup, as I figure I'll eventually cross from just under borderline to high... I was close for a while, but have brought it back down in the last year with my diet. Hope you feel better soon!

Kery - congrats on being an aunt! Silly is always good.

Megan - We are partly cloudy here, but the sun is out right now. I was hoping for some clouds to keep the temp down until my AC gets fixed next week! Hope your thunderstorms pass soon!

Pat - welcome back! Good luck on finding an over the range microwave to fit in your space! We thought we were going to have to replace the one in the house we were renting a few years ago and couldn't find one the right size to fit the connections that were there... Hope you feel better soon!

Yesterday came in below 1800, so I've now got three days in a row of low days to help balance some of the crazy high days the week plus before that. DSS & I had sandwiches for dinner last night with some apple slices. I had a swiss laughing cow with my apple and DSS ate a little of it on his apple, but told me 'that isn't cheese, it is triangle yogurt'. Whatever it takes to get him to eat it! I'm learning how to dry my hair in the dark in the morning to keep from heating up my bathroom to intolerable levels for the rest of the morning prep with no AC... I may not dry it at all over the weekend... Needless to say, not my best hair week.

Have a good day everyone!

Michele, yup, scallops come in a shell. The "scallop" that you eat is the big muscle of the animal. I was snorkeling for bay scallops. Ocean scallops are offshore and are much bigger, and live in very deep water. When you order scallops at a restaurant and get ~5 big ones as your meal, they're ocean scallops. Bay scallops are just as delicious and some people think even sweeter. To get bay scallops, you snorkel in seagrass beds anywhere from 1 foot to about 8 feet deep, see a scallop nestled there in the grass sort of like this, dive and grab it, and stick it in your bag. Like most fish and shellfish, there is a scalloping season, designated scalloping grounds, and you need a fishing license. It's a lot of fun because when you're snorkeling you also get to see all different kind of fish, sea stars, crabs, etc. in the grass bed.

Oh, look what I just found. This article talks all about scalloping.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...ApermQe09oCcCQ

OMG! That is so interesting! I never knew what scallops looked like in the shell--who knew? I do love to eat them, though!

Megan-- thanks for the scallop info and pics! I've seen those shells but didn't realize they were scallop shells.

I guess that's where they came up with "scalloped edge."

Morning! I knew that scallops had shells, but the rest was interesting. I had some humongus ones on the ship one night - yummmmy! Mostly we get small ones in the store here.

It's hot and humid here again, and supposed to be that way through the weekend. No one dares complain since we had less than 5 days over 70 last summer! I did drag a camping mattress out on the deck last night and slept out there - partially to cool off and partially because my coughing is keeping DH awake. The poor cats were very confused.

Meant to encourage you Michele - I weighed at the gym last night and was down 3# from where I was before the cruise. Plus I'm wearing my smaller pants today.