When I don't blog for a week, I have lots of random things on my mind. Here are a few... I got shingles several years ago and was one of the rare cases that resulted in postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN, which causes severe nerve pain that can last for months or years. In my case, it has been years. And it seems to get worse when I am stressed or getting sick. Basically when my immune system is working harder than normal, my shingles pain kicks in to high gear. Apparently my immune system is on overdrive today because my back is on fire. And itches. But it hurts too much to scratch it. It is cold here. I tried to run outside yesterday but only made it two miles because I couldn't feel my face. Today will be a treadmill day. Parenting is an adventure. After the Bean used a purple Sharpie to write on the glider, I made her help me clean it to teach her it is not OK. Apparently it didn't do what I hoped because while helping she enthusiastically told me, "This is fun!!&q