I do whine a lot; don't I? Really life is pretty good.

I want to go home and put on my flannel PJs. Soft non-irritating flannel PJs. I'm watching the clock. Hard.

I have hives. Started about three weeks ago and at first it was really dismissable. I had 3 hives. On next to my belly button and two on the inside of each thigh. Then I had four on my elbow. The hives would disappear in the morning and show up again after dinner and weren't all that annoying. I rubbed benedryl on them (thought they might be bug bites although in the middle of winter that confused me) and waited for them to go away.

Then they started getting worse. Three hives became ten. Ten hives fifteen. At this point I made an appointment to see the doctor. My appointment was at 9:30 am - not a hive to be seen. Isn't that typical. She was understanding (outwardly; inwardly I'm sure she was rolling her eyes) and told me that's what hives do - they come and go. She told me it could be like this for months and to take an over-the-counter antihistimine for 7 days without a break and if they weren't gone by then to see an allergist. She gave me a referral to the allergist. That was last week.
The hives weren't that bad at that point and this seemed reasonable but over the weekend things got much worse. Thankfully the ones on my inner thighs are gone. Now things have moved to my arms and the backs of my legs. The underside of my arms are now so raw from itching that I can't itch them because it hurts too much. The hives don't go away completely now (although they are always better during the early part of the day) and they are WAY to numerous to even begin to count. I'm miserable. I've been the the bathroom twice at work today to take my clothes off and scratch. Right now I've taken off my suit jacket and am sitting at my desk with my winter coat over my shoulders (to keep me warm) while I scratch my right hive-covered bicep.

I went to the pharmacy this morning and pleaded with the pharmacist. She suggested Lanacan (which worked long enough for me to declare her a genius and then stopped). She also suggested I take Benedryl on top of the 24 hr. Antihistime (which might as well be Vitamin C) I'm already taking.

I just called the allergist I was referred to (for April 26th!) to plead. I now have an appointment for March 21st (not all that much better). I might have clawed myself to death before then.

On an equally whiny note - last weekend was Maya's first out-of-town hockey tournament. I'm so NOT a hockey Mom. I'm too uptight. By the end of the weekend I was so tired of the other hockey parents - no problem at all with the kids. In line with my last post about social laziness. I've decided that maybe I'm just an introvert in an extrovert's body.

The first game was a 2 pm in the afternoon. We lost spectacularly which meant we played again at 8:00 the next morning. We all went to check into the hotel. Party floor was the 2nd floor. I was ecstatic when we were given a room on the 4th floor. Manager Mom -- also on the 4th floor -- was devestated. The parents decided their children should swim, run around the hotel like wild animals and eat dinner at 7:00 pm. I decided my children should eat dinner at 5:00 pm; have a swim; shower and then go to bed (ummmmm.... need to be at the rink -- a half hour drive from the hotel -- 7:00 am people!). Daniel was not there. He had class that afternoon and took the train out to join us later that night.

At 9 pm wild children were running screaming through the halls. My children were in bed at 7:30. They thought I was evil.

The next day they lost their game -- spectacularly -- which meant they didn't play again until Sunday morning at 9:00 am. So here we are - back at the hotel at 10:00 pm; the entire day in front of us; in a small, nothing-to-do-at-ALL town. Well then let's let the kids run screaming through the halls all day - the hell with the other patrons of the hotel (if I had a nickel for everyone who said to me they should know what to expect with a hockey tournament going-on). Am I wrong for thinking this was the wrong attititude?

We took the kids to the mall for something to do. The mall was pathetic. We took Sam to get his haircut at Walmart. We ate lunch and then went back to the hotel and napped - until a small child screaming at the top of his lungs outside our bedroom door woke the whole family up. Kamryn begged to run with the wild children. After a half hour of begging I gave in. I had rules - no running, no screaming and no using the elevator. She's good at following rules. I was confident.

After dinner with the hockey parents and progeny the children recommenced terrorizing the hotel patrons. At this point I went and found a ballroom and asked permission to allow them to play in there (with me supervising) from reluctant but desperate hotel management. Seemed like such a better strategy then telling people paying a good amount for their room to suck it up.

The parents were all right but by Sunday at 4:00 pm after losing our last game (they won the one first thing in the morning) I'd really had it with hanging with them. I definitely had different ideas and it was exhausting biting my tongue and smiling. Ugh! How will I survive years of this?

Kamryn... she had a blast.