I have some kind of virus that won’t go away. For days now I have had intermittent pain, top of rib cage near the armpit. It has changed sides, but currently plagues the right side. It can be debilitating, coming in waves every 10 seconds (yes I counted them). Aspirin helps. Also a pain patch.

I take aspirin daily now. It masks my symptoms. When enough time goes by I get bodily flu-like aches. Aspirin and rest take care of that but they come back as time wears on. I have the beginnings of a sore throat. I had the same last week, including ear ache, and it went away while the other stuff went on. Now it’s back. When I walk or bike, I get exhausted and have a relapse so I haven’t been doing that.

I am still stretching and lifting weights – just 5 lbs. in each hand, no big deal. Lying down, 9 moves, 20 reps each. And I use ankle weights and do releves while the coffee is making. Releves are when you bend your knee, then spring to a half-toe position . They keep my feet and legs strong. Since I can’t do hardly anything else, I won’t give them up.

I got a prescription for effexor because Red Imp said it had helped her so much. But I had severe side effects – heart palpitations, severe dizzy moments, grinding ache in my stomach only briefly alleviated by food, meaning I was eating all day and it was not helping. Anecdotal stories from people on this pill include horrific weight gain that can’t be managed. So I didn’t take any more.

Red Impala said she has never had any side effects. I am happy it’s working for her. We are all different. I should have known because I have had a volatile chemistry and should have remembered that.

My fashion friend, Lila, was in the area yesterday to work with Chico’s. She came over and we ordered Chinese and ate in. Her company, Mast Industries, has been sold, but nothing is changing and her job is secure. She’s a powerhouse so I’m sure they don’t want to lose her. She travels the world for them, spotting fashions, and arranging to have them manufactured. It sounds exhausting. She spends a lot of time in Asian countries on their behalf. Writing about it is tiring me out.

A photo of my once friend, Kathy, who used to be a sales person at Frills, and left to open her own boutique in Fort Myers, was in a feature section of the Fort Myers News-Press, along with other movers and shakers from that particular commercial section of the “city” that is undergoing a revival. I call it a city but any area with only tall buildings and hardly any street life, is kidding itself. I thought of sending her a contratulatory E mail on the success of her shop, etc., but since she dropped me, she may think I am sucking up in order to gain favor with her now that she is what passes for a celebrity in these parts. I don’t trust her to think it is just me being happy for her good fortune because she got all the rest of it wrong.

I forgot Brunswick out on the pool deck this morning and when I finally went by the family room and saw this forlorn little kitty waiting by the door (he could have walked through the pet door, but he refuses to use it) and heard a little squeak (he doesn’t meow), I let him in and picked him up and he purred and all was forgiven.

xx, Teal