"El Shingles"

Do you remember back in the 1990's when everything was blamed on El Nino?  It started out being blamed for weather changes, then moved to weird ocean currents. It wasn't long before you heard it being the scapegoat for allergies, gross airplane food, increased gun violence, why he dumped me, brittle nails, blue eye shadow, and eventually my mom's bad hair day. Even Chris Farley realized the significance of this global phenomenon.  

So lately, I have been having flashbacks to those excuses as it seems I am blaming everything on "The Shingles." At about 6 months pregnant, my body thought growing a child was getting a little boring so it thought it might throw some good ol' fashioned Shingles into the mix.  Fabulous. 

The shingles have been gone now for over a month, but it has left me with Post-Herpetic Neuralgia (PHN).  Again, fabulous.  It basically feels like someone is putting a cigarette out on my back about every hour. The only thing that makes it start to go away is by laying down.

So, this is where I start to look bad:  

Oh look, dishes need to be done. . .My back is killing me, I need to lay down.

Volunteer in Tay's class? . . .Dang, my back is killing me.  I need to lay down.  

No clean clothes? . . .My back was killing me, I needed to lay down. 

There is only ketchup and broccoli in the fridge. . .Yah, about that, my back was killing me. I needed to lay down.

I felt bad when Téa asked me to do something and I started to say, "Sweetie, I  - "

She cut me off and said, "I know Mom, your back hurts."

But I am here to tell you I'm not lying.  I'm for real!  I promise you.

I only felt slightly vindicated when, after asking my doctor if PHN was normal, he responded (and I quote), "No, it's awful! It sucks." Unfortunately, I was alone when he said that.

Oh, and by the way, Justin took that photo of Ben.  I haven't been taking pictures of anything or anybody lately. . . my back has been killing me, I've needed to lay down.