Mononucleosis and Splenomegaly

So, I've officially got mono, as of the 19th. My spleen is swelled to around 4x its normal size, and all of my other organs seem to be squished. Tuesday was terrible; all of my muscles ached, even my legs and arms. It was weird, but luckily I've been better since. I choose to look at that as the peak of the mono: I can only get better! So, I have started in on garden plans, and have been doing a lot of math. 

Also, I am on something like the fifth chapter of Emma, by Jane Austen. It's not bad, but Emma isn't my favourite heroine. She seems to be rather nosy, and can't leave her friend Harriet well enough alone. That makes it harder to continue reading, but I know that I must. Besides, it isn't written badly: it's Austen! So, I am resigned to content myself to reading for reading's sake.

However, I am officially supposed to be resting. I have some of the less common symptoms of mono, that are still connected: tightness in chest, difficulty breathing, and rapid heartbeat.  That is, when I seem to do just about any kind of work. I mean, I can cook, or pick up my room. But when I take a comforter downstairs and put it in the washing machine, I have to sit down for a moment. And sometimes I get dizzy, if get up too quickly. It's been a pain. But, I thought I had asthma: now I suspect that it was only the mono, and that it will all be cleared up by spring.

I plan a flower garden, and also a wild flower meadow, in what is now called "The Savanna".  I think it will be nice, and that spring will come soon.

Pictures of mono:

 

 

This so-called "Downy cell" (above) is typical of lymphocytes infected by EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) or CMV (Cytomegalovirus) in infectious mononucleosis. Downy cells may be classified as types I, II, or III. This is a type II Downy cell.

 

(I assume that the abs will soon come.)

The S.S. Smerwick

So, in studying Ireland's geography, I came across Smerwick Harbour, in South-South-West Ireland. It reminded me of "The True Meaning of Smekday," by Adam Rex. I checked in the back, where my Atlas lists all of the places in the world, their coordinates, and what page they are on. No Smek, only Smerwick.

Anyhow, I had had my sights set on building a little boat out of aluminum foil, so I decided to name it after Smerwick Harbour. But where to go? Blasket Island caught my eye.

 

 

 

 After I have learned all I can about painters David and Ingre, and have sufficient knowledge of the Louvre, I shall be finished Paris, and can start researching Ireland.

 

New low

Well, Peter Mayle's book "Toujours Provence" is wonderful, I'm really enjoying it, now more than ever. Now that the house has gone down to the 60 degrees' Farenheit, I've been spending a lot of time reading by the fire. This afternoon: collecting firewood.

^ I used up a lot of wood yesterday. ^

^ I'll use this wagon to collect sticks/logs. ^

^ On the other hand, I do have quite a lot of wood,

already, from the renovations. Hm. ^

My house, and my dog Agatha (Christie).

Happy New Years!

Warming the house, and myself

Well, my heating's being faulty again. It's about 64 degrees upstairs, so I'm in the basement, having a fire. The aesthetics aren't the fanciest, but I made a little place to read, next to what I would guess is a table saw.








............................................(^Table saw^)

(And if you look to your right, you'll see broken-up concrete and drywall, on a backdrop of spray foam insulation, pvc pipes, spackle, tile and wiring.)



That t.v. (left) is the one that I watched President Obama's inauguration on, in between taping-and-spackling.



I am becoming a fire extraordinaire, I think. Unfrortunately, I need more wood, so I need a replacement to stroke the fire while I go outside.



..............................................^Hey! Wood!^





I'm reading a Christmas book,"Toujours Provence" by Peter Mayle. It's really good.

Happy Birthday Jane!

Today is the 234th birthday of Jane Austen! Dearest Jane was born on December 16th, 1775, "to George and Cassandra Austen at Steventon rectory." (Hampshire, England) "She was the eighth child and second daughter behind brothers James, George, Charles, Francis, Henry, Edward and sister Cassandra." (*Copyright JaneAusten.org: I couldn't get that straight.) 234, wow! And this means that the 200th anniversaries of her novels are coming up in the next decade! S&S in 2011, P&P in 2013, and Emma in 2015! Very exciting!

I don't know how she would have celebrated, but I suppose some kind of cake is in order, here. I have a devil's food cake mix, that I have been dying to cook up....

In addition, I saw the most wonderful story on BBC World News last week. In Cuban cigar rolling factories, many employ full-time Readers, who read aloud to those rolling cigars. The Reader that was interviewed started the morning by reading the paper cover-to-cover, and then read books such as "Romeo and Juliet" or "The Count of Monte Cristo." Also, modern books, such as "The Da Vinci Code". For some rollers, it inspired them to read books at home, for the first time. It was really quite something.



*Also: re-read "The True Meaning of Smekday" by Adam Rex. I have a signed copy of it, in which he even SPELLED MY NAME RIGHT! I know, I'm impressed also.

Wonderful book, good set-up, dialogue, characters. Also hilarious, which can be hard. Most of the humour comes from my favourite character, and also the best, J.Lo. He is one of the Boov, which are a kind of alien race, which invades Earth and renames it Smekland, after glorious Captain Smek. J.Lo is not his real name, but the one he picked out for himself. In any case, his combination of choppy English, heroic bravery, Boovish quirks, alien knowledge, and amazing cartoons, make him the best none-heroine character I've read in a very long time.

Kudos to Mr. Adam Rex, and his book. Here are links to his blog, and website.

Coming up before the end of the week: the dreaded literary mountain Emma, and the search through the book store jungle for a foot-noted copy!