Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

After school Nefarious and I prepped six petri dishes — two each — with nutrient agar and then when it had set we all seeded one with bacteria from our mouths, and the other with bacteria from our armpits. Over the next week we will see what horrible things develop. It’s funny, when I bought the science supplies online, many of the stores selling such thing were paradoxically filled with Christian gear… I suppose that’s a reflection on who does homeschooling in the USA.

You may have already seen it on Caitlin’s blog, but I wanted to share the awesome Valentine’s present that she made me alongside other neat stuff she’s made recently — it’s an 8-bit picture of me! I love it. We’ve got it up as a wall hanging right now (8 bit quilts are the coolest).

Today I spent the morning at the hospital, and I’ll be doing the same tomorrow. It was a difficult day because I haven’t been feeling well — I think in part because every time a step is taken to control the pain and I feel a little better that I get more active, damage my musculature in the process, and then spend a week or two feeling awful as my body struggles to repair the damage — and I hate having to talk about it all in detail when it’s so unpleasant. Definitely some positive things though — I have a referral process for a doctor who’s supposed to be the city’s muscle myopathy wizard which will be very nice if it pans out, and I finally got my permanent “handicapped” parking permit and am now a government-confirmed cripple I guess. This will be nice both because my legs need it, and selfishly because of the convenience in ease of finding a parking spot it offers.

I’m still waiting to get into some sort of qualified physical therapy program though, which is something I really need, because I hate being stuck on this tightrope of choosing muscle atrophy from lack of exercise, or two much exercise destroying the muscle in a way it can’t heal from. In the short term I’ve been considering dropping my weight significantly simply so my legs don’t have as much mass to move (I’m reading The 4-Hour Body right now which has got me thinking on the subject).

Other than that, not much, as you may have guessed from my lack of blogging. I haven’t been able to stand for long — which stops me, for example, from painting — and am ashamed to say that I’ve spent much of the time just resting. I have things I want to work on, but it’s been my experience that if I try and paint or create, the quality of my work suffers greatly because I end up channeling the way I’m feeling into it — and a sort of tired out apathy is not the most profound thing to steep artwork in… Tomorrow after school we’re heading to Sculpture Supply Canada to pick up an order I made a while ago and maybe tempt myself with other goodies. I’m out of silicone and have quite a few things that need casting.

Nefarious and I picked up some square doweling that’s perfect for making doll furniture. I made a chair, and she made a really nice matching table. In addition to making the clothing that the doll in the picture is wearing, she also sewed a really awesome handbag (building on the stitching they teach in Casa — Montessori kindergarten — I imagine). I do like that Caitlin and I are building such an effective DIY-ethic foundation for Nefarious. Because both her parents (her mother having MS) have serious health problems, I worry that she’s going to have to face some very difficult times at a younger age than is fair, so I really want to make sure she has the tools to stand on her feet through anything.

On that medical unpleasantness, I’d asked the doctors about having her genetically tested to see if she has the same disease as me (it is usually, although not always, hereditary), but I’ve been told that is strongly recommended against (a la Huntington’s). Because it’s a condition with no real treatment and no cure, the medical ethics stance is that it doesn’t do a child any good to have that spectre hanging over them, and they also feel that it’s a decision that each patient has to make for themselves (and that only an adult can understand the consequences of the testing). But every single time we go for a walk and Nefarious complains that her legs her, a little tremor of dread shudders through me. I understand why they don’t test children, but it sure would lighten my load to know conclusively that I have not passed this on.

Anyway… I’m enjoying the new season of Survivor, as I have every one since the first, but I’m not enjoying blogging and feel like I’m just going through the motions… I know it’s not very compelling stuff here. This weekend Nefarious is going to visit her grandmother, so maybe Caitlin and I will find some exciting last minute excitement. Just go to the airport and pick somewhere? Tomorrow my pain medication increases, so fingers crossed that lifts me out of this slump.