My mornings

Lately Max transforms into a grunting worm called "Jackbuh" who doesn't listen very well. But Aiden can make Jackbuh transform into a well-behaving worm named "Obi" or a nice frog named "Crackers" (or occasionally a kitty cat named "Helloah"). And from there he can transform back into Max. Getting ready in the morning is very complicated because I have to keep track of all these creatures; they won't listen unless I address them by the correct name, and only Aiden can reliably get Jackbuh to go through the stages of transforming into Max who can then brush his teeth or put on his clothes. Because hello! Animals don't brush their teeth or wear clothes!

It's a miracle we ever leave the house.

After waiting several weeks for an appointment I went to Vertigo Clinic at Samsung Medical Center this morning. I've never been to any of the big hospitals here (I delivered at Cha hospital which is much smaller) so it was an experience. The Ear Nose and Throat practice is in the new Cancer Center which is pretty fancy. Like Cha, everything is broken down into different functions and areas: check in in one place, wait in another, one nurse takes my history and enters it into the computer, then wait in another area, then the doctor sees me briefly, then another dr./nurse performs some tests, back to the waiting area, back to the Dr. who reviews the results, down to the special desk for making appointments for further tests (but no MRI, which is a relief, since I wasn't sure I could afford it), then to a consultation area with a person who teaches me to do special "exercises" to quicken the departure of the troublesome rocks in my ears, then out to the cashier to pay. All that in less than 1.5 hours.

My next tests are next week, then I have to wait until the 20th to see the doctor for the results. Since I'm not having many problems now I'm ok with waiting, but I wonder what would happen if my problems were more severe. Would I still have to wait so long?

Anyway, I can't predict a return to blogging quite yet because I'm still so tired all the time. But I have to post at printculture every Friday, so look for me there.

Lies I tell my kids

Lies I tell my kids is up over at printculture.We've gone back to the old format (more 'zine, less blog) so be sure to check out the other contributers' posts as well. Getting back to writing long posts (and more frequently) is hard but it is worth it to get to read what everyone else comes up with. I missed those guys.

I haven't been able to keep up the blog lately, just too much going on. The last 3 months or so I keep having recurring attacks of vertigo (probably just benign positional vertigo) which are pretty miserable. At worst, they last about 36 hours during which every time I move the room spins and I throw up. Sometimes, though, there are no symptoms at all. Last week I walked around looking like a drunk for about 5 days because I was constantly dizzy. I can't drive or exercise. All this makes me really tired.
The symptoms suck but there's probably nothing serious behind it, and for that I'm grateful.