This morning it is considerably better, with only a dull ache when I turn in certain ways. I was simply panic stricken when it hit me last night. I thought that maybe I�d be unable to travel today and may even have to go to the hospital. Paralysis ran through my mind more than once. I can�t even express how relieved I am today that I am not going to have to go through lumbar punctures and MRIs again. Even after nearly ten years the fear still remains.

I have a host of things to actually do today, all of which are minor, but need doing nonetheless. I have so many things that I had to write a to-do list for myself. Andy agreed to look after Ghostcat, thankfully. I just have to drop off a key for him. He asked if we wanted to bring the little one over to his place to stay until Monday, but I figured that the paint fumes and the unfamiliarity would freak him out a little bit. Cats are not easily adaptable animals. I told him that we trust him to do it because he won�t bring a ton of people over here to get drunk (Muppet), he won�t steal anything (Jim), and the cat adores him.

I am very much looking forward to our mini travel plans. It will be nice to spend a night in abed other than my own, even if the other bed is inferior. I�m so very sleep-spoiled. It�s not everyone who gets to sleep on a pillowtop mattress with a feather bed atop it, between Ralph Lauren sheets, under a down quilt every night. It was the one thing that we decided we wouldn�t scrimp on when we bought it and we still say, a year and a half later: �Man, I love this bed.� For tonight and tomorrow we have to downgrade to a bed that is well over fifty years old, is very squeaky, and sags in the middle. It�s not the bed that matters, though; it�s the change of scenery, my first in about six months. Plus, eating Luke�s grandma�s food, though very different from that of my own family and very binding, is still very homey and it�s just nice to not have to cook.

I asked Luke a couple of weeks ago whether he thought it a good idea for me to cook an Easter meal and bring it up to his great grandma. He kind of nixed it, saying that she likes to cook, even if it is that terrible, ridiculously cheap water and ham product paired with some iceberg lettuce and mayonnaise passed off as salad. I don�t know that I agree with him, but she�s his Great Gram and I can�t just do things, so if he says she likes to cook, she likes to cook and I won�t interfere with that. I just thought it might be a nice thing to do for her, since she doesn�t get out much and rarely has anything luxurious. I still think she would have loved it had I brought her an entire dinner that she could just heat up and chow down on, plus Donnie would no doubt be thrilled. However, if I can�t do that for her, at least I don�t have to eat the ham and water product stuff. We tend to be able to avoid eating there since we go over after eating at his other Gram�s. It doesn�t stop her from trying to get us to fill what she calls the �Sunday pipe�.

I had a very strange dream this morning. It involved my parents, a recognizable place from dreams past, and a large, talking raptor who, when aggravated, would latch onto my hand with both claws and beak, leaving me to shriek bloody murder. In the end, I ended up taking an i-Zone photo of it wearing a floral dress and suddenly having a girl�s head. It said that it didn�t want anyone to know from the photo that it was a bird. All I have to say about that is: What. The. Hell.

Okay, it�s getting late and I have crap to get to. I forgot what it was like to actually have to do things with time constraints.