I have a complete set of All-Clad Copper Core, plus the wok. Thank you Bloomingdale's sale + insider points + card bonus!

Pictured, though, is an All-Clad Copper Core saucepan and it is awesome. I have the complete set.

My brother and SIL, who I love dearly (and vice versa), usually get give me awful, awful things and I usually drop major (and thoughtful!) coin on them. Last year I got stuff like a tiny fake Xmas tree and a very disturbing glass cat ornament, brass earrings (I'm allergic) - I sent them a custom framed rare botanical…

Epaulets here!

Apparently I got the only appropriate cards this year.

The true paradoxical reaction is very rare; so rare that the anesthesiologists at this big-ass hospital in a major population center had never seen it up close and personal before (which makes me special ... ?). It's very likely that of everyone reading/commenting on every post on this blog, I'll be the only person…

Zanthinegirl explained FSGS much more succinctly than I would have. What causes it is not understood; autoimmune is one theory; there are others.

I'm beginning to think "primary idiopathic FSGS" (what hypotensive white chix get) is a thing, and not some mysterious zOMG dx after all. I've come across a lot of us.

Naw, I'm getting over a kidney infection, so I'm in the mood to whine! (and thanks for asking)

I had the biopsy because of the huge amounts of protein in my urine, along with some other symptoms. My diagnosis is Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disease usually associated with older Black men with high blood pressure ... at the time I was a young white chick with very low blood pressure (nothing has…

"Twilight sedation" doesn't work on everyone. I have what is called the paradoxical reaction to the most commonly used twilight anesthesia, Versed. In most people, it makes them sleepy and relaxed,and unable to remember the events for about a 24 hour period. Me, it WAKES UP and keeps up. It's like speed.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

One of my cats managed to get out - and lost - for 15 days at our newish place, up in the mountains, with coyotes, mountain lions and wild boars. This cat did almost kill me, but has no outdoor experience. She did make it back, skinny and dirty but unhurt. One of my friends celebrated her return by sending me this:

Up next for you: A Very Venture Christmas

I'd hesitate to call them "faith-based," unless that term is accepted as meaning "using faith as a shield while scamming people." I'd like to believe there are some religious organizations (not CPCs) that actually do try to do something helpful other than line their own pockets.

I've had two hand surgeries under locals. One was to reattach the thumb I nearly severed, and that was pretty cool, but since I couldn't wear my glasses I couldn't see much and the lovely red-haired boy-child anesthesiologist kept giving me more morphine, so it was fine.

Pretty much anywhere the words "Christian" and "crisis pregnancy clinic" appear together. Here's an investigation from The Nation. It's not for the faint-hearted.

That's not Planned Parenthood. That's a Crisis Pregnancy Center, aka Lie Factory and Baby-Selling Hub. They were working you over in case your test was positive so they could guilt you into giving birth and then surrendering the infant so the could make large cash with a private adoption.

It was me, telling you the difference between "disinterested" and "uninterested," wasn't it.

12/26. Looking forward to making my own damn cake.