Travel Itinerary-Europe 2013

Last Sunday Dad and I got home from our trip to Europe. There is no chance I'll be able to blog about everything, but I thought I'd at least give you the highlights of each day.. I admit that it's not a very exciting post, but if I tried to add much more it would be overwhelming for both of us. There are pictures on Facebook if you're interested :)

Fri. March 29th- Travel to Paris
Sat., March 30th- walk the neighborhood and see the Grand Opera
Sun., March 31st- walk the neighborhood, discover the Lourve, brouse through books on the left bank, visit Notre Dame and stay for Easter mass, and see the Hotel de Ville
Mon., April 1st- Arc D'Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Pont Alexander, housing protest, and Seine River Cruise by night
Tues., April 2nd- Orsay Museum
Wed., April 3rd- Notre Dame tower, Conciergerie, St. Chappelle, and two neighborhood churches (including St. Eustace)
Thurs., April 4th- Versailles, and Verdi Requiem concert at St. Eustace
Fri., April 5th- shopping by day and the Eiffel tower at night
Sat., April 6th- wash clothes, lunch with an old friend- Caitlin Scott, Luxembourg Gardens, and saw the Sorbon/ University of Paris
Sun., April 7th- Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart Basilica) and the Lourve museum
Mon., April 8th- Army museum and the Eiffel Tower (again, yes, we loved it)

Tues., April 9th- Travel to Rome, eat a pizza, and find our hotel
Wed., April 10th- Giant white building on the Capital hill that we never did find the name of and the outside of the Colosseum
Thurs., April 11th- Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palantine Hill
Fri., April 12th- National Museum
Sat., April 13th- San Castillo Catacombs
Sun., April 14th- Night walk by Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps
Mon., April 15th- Pantheon and day walk by Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps
Tues., April 16th- Day trip to Florence & Pisa:
Wed., April 17th- St. Peter's square and Castle of St. Angelo
Thurs., April 18th- Borghese Gallery
Fri., April 19th- Vatican Museum (including the Sistine Chapel) and St. Peter's Basilica
Sat., April 20th- Travel back to Paris
Sun., April 21st- Travel home to Houston

Happy Birthday.. to YOU!!

There have been a LOT of birthdays happening around here..

*I totally spaced pictures on Dad's birthday, and I can't find anything recent of him. We'll have to change that!

In the past month we've had Dad's 57th*, Grandpa Ogzewalla's 87th, Mom's 50th, Libby's 1st, and Emma's 22nd birthdays. So to all of you birthday folks out there I'd just like to say...

"duh, duh, duh... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

I do not own the copyright to this video. This video clip comes from Disney's Cinderella.

Allergy Testing

I recently went to the allergist to see if they might have any clues to explain some of my health-related struggles. And this was the result...

 Day 1 of Allergy Testing

Day 2 of Allergy Testing (not so flattering, but that's reality for ya sometimes)

The first day they test you against everything. They take needles that have been dipped in the different allergens and lightly scratch them across your back.  If you end up with a big red spot it means you're allergic to that allergen. The second day they go back and double check all of the things that didn't seem to react to the first day. They do this by inserting small amounts of more concentrated allergen right under the skin rather than just scratching the surface. I think the proper way to explain it would be, "Ouch, eeeh, oooh, itch!!!!" Again they wait to see which ones react and that shows you what you're allergic to.

And so it turns out that I am allergic to basically everything they tested for. Grass, trees, mold, etc. etc. There was one happy, happy, exception: DOGS!!! They said the reaction was there but it was minor enough that it shouldn't be a problem as long as I don't sleep with the dog. I am SO glad that we don't have to decide between my health and keeping Libby.

As far as treatment goes I'm currently taking two medicines daily and I'll soon be adding regular allergy shots to the regimen.  It takes 3-5 years of consistent treatment, but the allergy shots can help my body build up its own immunity over time.