I haven’t blogged in quite a while, and people keep asking to see my Hawaii pics. I still have to sift through those, but here’s a taste of some of the fun we had:

A coworker recommended I watch this video for the “Neti Pot,” a decidedly modern health maintenance device. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it cracks me up.

Carmen send me this incredibly weird, somewhat funny video/music tribute to my old home town. I’m still not sure what to think.

Wow, no posts in a month. What a terrible blogger I am. I think I’m justified this time. Frankly, January completely sucked. Hear now my saga.

On the Friday before New Year’s Eve, I woke with a terrible toothache. Despite it being her “busiest day of the year,” my dentist was nice enough squeeze me in. She determined that I needed a root canal. Yay! Unfortunately, she only had time to perform half a root canal - enough to alleviate my pain until the week after next when her schedule was more open.

That seemed to go fine until a couple of hours later - when the root canal got infected. I can’t describe how painful this was other than to say it felt like a kindey stone in my mouth (I’ve had kidney stones several times - it doesn’t get much worse). I called her emergency line, got her directly, and before too long I had some penicillin and was good as new.

Or was I? The Monday after I finished that course of antibiotics, I started to itch. I noticed two mosquito-bite sized bumps on my arm, and I couldn’t stop scratching them. By lunch time, there were three bumps. An hour or so later, there were eight. Hives! I realized that something was seriously wrong with me and went straight to the doctor. She determined that I was probably allergic to the penicillin. She told me to take Benedryll and gave me a perscription for a mild steroid in case they got worse.

I went home and rested, feeling comforted in my nice Benedryll haze, but by bedtime the hives were way, way worse. Imagine a five inch raised, red bump on your thigh that itches like nothing else. I had those in at least five or six spots on my body. Taking the steroid seemed to make them mostly go away by the next morning, and by Wednesday I could barely tell they had been there at all.

Feeling energized by that, I decided to finish the painting that Amy and I had started the weekend prior. I didn’t mind the work, and I sure liked the results: transforming the hideous aquarium-themed nursery into a nice, relaxing home office. I was painting without a mask, and with the doors and windows shut no less. It’s great how they’ve paint not smell bad anymore! Must be fine for you…

Or so I thought. The next morning, the hives were back worse than ever. Itching like crazy! Doc gave me a stronger steroid, and I had to take that and Benedryll for the next two weeks, leaving me in a terrible haze of dizziness, headache, and nausea - all mixed together with a strangely huge appetite. You’d think that’d be the end of it, but the hits just kept on coming. And this just raised a mystery: was I allergic to the penicillin or the paint?

Returning to the dentist to finish my root canal, I figured I might as well get my long-overdue schedule cleaning. In that process, they found two more deep cavities that “might also have to become root canals.” Great. Both had formed behind old fillings (like the first), so there was little I could have done about them. That evening, one of said fillings broke off, leaving a big scratchy hole in one side of my mouth to go along with the scratchy temporary crown on the other. Having the cavities filled in the end was actually more miserable than the root canal in the first place.

All that and I lost $65 at my first poker game of the year. I think I’m back to normal now, and I’m incredibly grateful for Amy’s wonderful care. On the bright side, I have a great excuse to never paint again.

With my fantasy football winnings (regular season champion, yo!), I picked up Rock Band for the Xbox 360. What a great purchase that’s turned out to be. Over the holidays, we put bands together a few time, and it’s always a blast.

My favorite moment came when Amy, singing Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” belted out, “I’m a cowboy… on a seahorse I ride….” She’s getting new glasses soon.

With singing, drumming, guitar and bass, everyone can have fun with Rock Band. Check this video out from Conan O’Brien. Halfway through he does the Beastie Boys as Edith Bunker. It’s priceless!

Here you go, “Baba.” While investigating used guitars on Craigslist for a coworker, I found this priceless listing:

I have an Oscar Schmidt 6-string acoustic guitar, Model# OG-2N. It is like new and in great condition. It was a gift from an ex, he was supposed to teach me how to play, but like every other part of our relationship, he was lazy. Also included is a molded SKB case, (price tag on it says $104.95), KORG chromatic tuner, and a lovely maroon-flowered strap. I am told that this is a great guitar for beginners, but honestly I really know nothing about it. I did a little ebay research and similar guitars are listed at this price…seems fair to me.

I can not provide you with a picture because I threw the camera at him during a fight. Maybe with your money I will buy a new one.

Please get this thing out of my house. Makes a great gift for the right girl, just not me, I wanted to learn the banjo.

Cash only please.

Cash only indeed.

After watching the fantastic An Inconvenient Truth over the weekend, it’s great to read news like this. I feel much safer knowing that the world’s scientists are leaving no stone unturned or animal’s anus unexplored in the search for global warming solutions.

Today, we celebrate one year of wedded bliss. I love you, Sugarpop!