Summer, Sun, and Sterility

I have learned that sun hates me.  Okay, I already knew that.  Sun bounces off my skin and lands on the next closest object:  usually Rob or my kids, who all have fantastic tans while I have perpetually shockingly white skin.

But even though the sun manages to not deepen my skin tone, it still manages to drain the life out of me.  I spend a few hours outside and come home with a headache and the need to nap.  And no tan.  (Are you sensing the bitterness of this non-tanning thing?)

What I have really learned, though, is that the combination of too much sun and not enough sleep makes me feel pregnant.  This freaks me out every time, because I'm surgically sterile, thank you very much.  Being pregnant would be grounds to sue my OB-GYN.  Or at least make him pay all the medical bills associated with such a pregnancy.

But there I find myself:
* In the grocery store, ready to vomit because of the smells coming from the seafood aisles.
* Experiencing extreme sensitivity to all dairy smells:  I almost tossed some perfectly good yogurt because it smelled bad to me.
* Nearing puke stage right before bedtime.
* Not able to eat much without feeling extremely unstable in the stomach.

Apparently feeling pregnant = feeling like puking. 

So there you have it.  That's what I'm figuring out this summer.

Sites of Cincinnati #1, reprise

If you remember, my very first Sites of Cincinnati post was about Touchdown Jesus along I-75.  I called it the Grotesque Christ.  Whatever you call it, last night in a wonderfully amazing lightning storm, it was struck by lightning.

Coolest local news story ever.

You can see a picture of the statue, pre-burning, and a short video of it burning right here.

We should all be sad, I'm sure, that such a distinctive local feature is no more.  I am right now attempting to be sad.  ...

Sites of Cincinnati #5

This is another place that isn't a Cincinnati Tourist Hot Spot, but it's one of the reasons why I never want to leave this city.  At least not until my kids are all over the age of 18.

Sites of Cincinnati #5:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Seriously, this place is amazing.  Every year it ranks as one of the best children's hospitals in the world.  Example (from an e-mail sent to me from Children's Hospital on June 4, 2010):

Cincinnati Children's Makes U.S. News and World Report's Honor Roll
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is one of only 8 pediatric hospitals in the United States to be included on the Honor Roll in U.S. News & World Report's 2010 edition of America's Best Children's Hospitals. 

The honor roll features only those hospitals ranked in all 10 specialties: cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, heart and heart surgery, kidney, neonatology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.

Cincinnati Children's ranked in the top 10 in all these specialties:

#1 Gastroenterology	#4 Urology
#2 Pulmonology	#5 Orthopedics
#3 Kidney	#5 Diabetes and Endocrinology
#3 Neonatology	#8 Neurology and Neurosurgery
#4 Cancer	#9 Heart and Heart Surgery

Read more about Cincinnati Children's and our U.S. News rankings.

Okay, so the e-mail was a little self-serving.  But still, it's a great thing to know that, no matter what emergency might befall my children, they'll receive world class care at Children's.  And believe me, after listening to some of the stories from people who don't live close to such a hospital, it makes me never, ever, ever want to move.

I Had a Birthday

On my birthday, I went to the dentist; washed, dried, and folded 5 loads of laundry; didn't get around to reading my latest book; talked to my mother for half an hour, and she didn't even mention my birthday; and, as the final hurrah, started my period.

It was a great day. 

I must be getting old when nothing "special" happens, and it was still a great birthday.  No disappointment was attached to any of those events.  On the contrary, it's nice to be getting needed dental work done; having the laundry under control is a great feeling; not having the time to read because I'm engaged doing other things is the least happy thing, but it's still not awful; my family's non-caring of birthdays is one of my favorite things about my family; and starting my period is a celebration of the fact that I am not pregnant and never again will be!

Happy Birthday to me.  Happy Birthday to me.  Happy Birthday dear Tamra ...

Happy Birthday to me!

(Oh, and 30 years old, please hurry it up!  Thanks.)