I'm still here....

This blog hasn't even been on my radar these past few months....that's probabably a good thing, right?  I started it in 2010 right after my thyca diagnosis and had a ton of posts that year.  Good therapy.  Since then, I'm lucky if I'm posting once or twice a month.

On the thyca front, I had my annual breast squashing the other day to check for breast issues.  I'm praying that I don't have a repeat of last year where I get called back because it looks suspicious.  I know it could happen very easily and I guess I'll be better prepared for it than I was last year--that resulted in mini-paralysis freak out for a couple of days and a near total breakdown after the second ultrasound that gave me the all clear.  Lots of women get called back and it's nothing...

I have had some interesting experiences this summer with food and the whole gluten issue, and I'm completely confused now as to what the hell my body is reacing to every time I ingest something.  Of  course I haven't been formally diagnosed with anything, just a comment from the endo along the lines of, "Well, if you feel better not eating gluten, then don't eat it."

July was awesome.  Just plain amazing.  I kind of satisfied my travel bug by hitting up two continents!  China and Europe.

Three words for China:  hot, sensory overload.

Typical lunch or dinner. I  have no idea what I ate, but I didn't starve!! 

The Forbidden City, Beijing

At the Great Wall!  I climbed what I could even though it was hazy and easily 100 degrees.  

Oh my.  At a rotary in Nanjing.  

So.  damn.  hot.  At the Forbidden City, Beijing. 

At the train station in Beijing, when you realize just what a billion people feels like.

Lotus flowers blooming in Hangzhou

Three words for Ireland:  home, peaceful, heaven.

Beautiful West Cork on the road from Tragumna Beach to Toe Head, near Skibbereen

I loved them both, although Ireland always will be a little bit more than any other place on the face of the earth, even my beloved Salamanca.
But I digress....

China was incredibly hot the whole time we were there.  We spent 5 days in Beijing, 3 days in Nanjing and 4 days in Hangzhou.  We spent our time visiting about 8 schools, playing tourists and attending a national conference at the end.  I ate so many interesting things, and can now eat rice with chopsticks--I can even pick up a peanut!  Lots of the food stared back at me, but I think I gave just about everything a taste.  I can now say that I've climbed the Great Wall, seen the Forbidden City, eaten Peking duck (yum!), been to a green tea plantation, eaten chicken feet, consumed lots of TsingTao beer, eaten  fruit pizza (don't even ask), hung out with Chinese teachers and students, ridden the bullet train from Beijing to Nanjing, peed in squat toilets, shopped in a Chinese WalMart, bought jade, cruised on West Lake, seen lots of high schools and elementary schools, eaten a red bean popsicle (not bad), seen the Bird's Nest stadium and the Water Cube, ridden in a bus going the wrong way down a two lane street, survived crossing the street in all three cities multiple times....
It was just an incredible trip, and I'm so glad I did it.

Ireland was like a second home.  We rented a cottage in Skibbereen,  West Cork and basically didn't do anything for two weeks except sleep, read books, take walks , go to pubs for food and sesiuns, visit with some of the cousins, listen to great music and drink a fair amount of Guinness.  I don't know--I have a visceral reaction to West Cork and love it there.  It just feels good to be there.  We had absolutely gorgeous weather with only a couple of rainy spots.  It was the perfect way to recover from the frenzy of China and the end of the school year--I don't think I've been that relaxed in ages.