The Real Secret of the Holy Grail

The Indiana Jones movies were on TV today. Susan shut it off before it got to the Crystal Skull so I wouldn't throw things at her TV.

I realized something, though. The true power of the Holy Grail is that it turns everything into hydrogen peroxide.
See?

Indy pours Grail juice onto his dad's wound, foaming ensues

Random dude on the internet pours hydrogen peroxide on a scrape, foaming ensues.

Thus endeth your archaeology lesson for the day.

Road Trip!

Last week we headed down to Mississippi for the first time in about 2 years so we could visit Tom's family and so he could defend his thesis and get his MA in Applied Anthropology and I could go visit some old professors of ours at Mississippi State.  I wasn't sure how well I would handle an extended car ride (it's roughly 10 hours) but I managed reasonably well, especially since my neurologist prescribed some low dose clonazapam for me to try out for when my back is being particularly stupid.  Pretty much the only bad part was discovering that I get a migraine when I'm in our car for more than about an hour even if I'm not driving.  Not sure if it's our car or something else, but that's rampant speculation for another time.  Taking something doesn't seem to do much for prevention either, it just keeps it from getting totally unbearable.

I just realized it looks like Tom has his eyes closed.  That might explain a few things.

The position of the price tag on this bag of Chex mix suggests the ultimate results of consumption.

Oreo's head got in the way when my hand jerked, so here's the blurry photo of his head.

The giant cross of aluminum siding outside Effingham.  Because nothing says devout like building a huge aluminum cross in the middle of Illinois that will startle road-dazed drivers.

I pretty much forgot about the camera for most of the rest of the trip.  Tom did get some excellent photos of a few projects I finished though, so I'll post those in the next few days.

Tom successfully defended.  Yay!  He just has to do some final edits and formatting and that good stuff.  So, now we're even on the graduate degree front. 

Oreo is still recovering from the trip - I think he was terrified we were going to leave him with my in-laws because that's where he stayed the last time we were in Sudan for 2 months.  He was definitely freaking out when we starting packing up to come home all the way up the point we actually put him in the car.  Poor little dude.  He's an excellent little traveler, though.  And I like having a warm snuggly on my lap for the trip, at least until he squirms too much and steps on my internal organs. 

Oh, and Tom briefly transformed into a douchebag while we were in Mississippi. 

All he needs is a flask of Maker's Mark, business cards for his lawyer/politician/lobbyist/upper management dad, and a Confederate flag and he'd be all ready for Pledge Week at Ole Miss.
I deeply and sincerely hope to never, ever again see my husband with

1. A popped collar
2. Any item of Ole Miss memorabilia
3. This facial expression 

Progress of some variety

Today was medical appointment day again. I managed to catch the bus to get to the appointment (yay, me!).

I love my rheumatologist - she's nice, she's smart, she answers questions and is thorough. Her new attending guy is awesome too. So, today's appointment was long, but good. They are trying everything they can to follow up on and test because neurology has so patently dropped the ball. And it's also very clear that I have some autoimmune ick going on - that's what's wrong with my thyroid. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Unfortunately, it does not come with cool ninja powers or a samurai sword or anything awesome like that. It just means my immune system has decided attacking my thyroid hormones is a good idea.

Also, apparently it's not normal for most people's skin to get a weird sort of mottled purple-red appearance when sort of cool. Didn't know that. :P And apparently it's weird that my finger tips flex inward slightly instead of being straight.

It also seems like the bright spots on my brain in the MRIs are probably related to whatever the autoimmune disorder is. At the moment, we aren't really certain and it may be some time before we're sure. They are fairly certain that there is an autoimmune problem beyond/in addition to the Hashimoto's.

Anyway, more blood tests, a chest x-ray, and I have a pulmonary exam in December. Whee.

No treatment at the moment because a) we're still not sure what's going on; b) the rheumatologists don't like random treatment just to see; c) the treatment of choice would be steroids which they'd rather not do unless it's really necessary. I agree completely with this.

On the neurology front: their strep theory seems highly unlikely given the test results (which they haven't bothered to tell me, but rheumatology did). They still haven't arranged my cognitive testing, despite regular prodding from me. I see them again in October. I'm asking to be referred to someone else. I'm just tired of dealing with them. They don't answer questions, are rather frightening clueless at times, utterly fail at communication, have made no progress, and seem to have no idea how to proceed. Hopefully that will go smoothly and not turn into a butt-hurt drama fest.

A final note: I formally withdrew from my PhD candidacy today. This marks the first time in 24 years I have not been enrolled in some fashion, somewhere as a student. After everything else that's happened in the past 18 months or so, it was rather anticlimactic. Or possibly it hasn't really hit me yet. Mostly I'm pissed about not getting the cool floppy velvet hat and not getting to smuggle Oreo into the ceremony (he started grad school with me). And thinking that, in retrospect, maybe I should have bothered walking for my MA instead of just having a week of celebratory sleep.

Digital Karnak: Welcome

Digital Karnak: Welcome

My husband clued me in to this amazing site produced by UCLA. I haven't had time to go through the whole thing yet, but the timemap feature showing the gradual development and change of the temple complex through time is FABULOUS.  An excellent visual reference and teaching tool.  For me at least, really understanding those sorts of changes through time takes a lot of staring and flipping of maps and/or a visit to the actual site and the leisure to wander as I like.  It's really great to see this sort of thing pulled together and made available for people all over the world!