I’ve been back to work for a little over a month now.  I’ve been working 4 days a week & I’ve been pretty tired.  This past week I worked 5 days (though it ended up being a lot more).  I worked Monday evening & had to start at 0500 hours Tuesday morning for election duty.  Unfortunately I had to do an investigation Monday night & ended up not getting any sleep.  I left work Tuesday afternoon exhausted. I couldn’t even go right to sleep when I got home.  Kind of knocked me out, especially since we had a “Stat” meeting on Friday, so I ended up staying up all night Thursday night going over material so that I would be totally prepared.  The Chief ended up asking me only a couple questions towards the end of the meeting but I was so tired by then that I didn’t answer as completely as I should have.  It wasn’t a big deal but I can be a bit of a perfectionist.  I do enjoy being back but I can do without the stress.  During the meeting, we got emails stating that we would have a “Traffic stat” meeting next week.  Ugh! Two weeks in a row.  Total torture.  I was thrilled when they sent an update later on informing us that we wouldn’t have that meeting next week.  I get to take Monday off now.

On a brighter note, I’ve been able to drive through the Tunnel without any problems.  After that first freak out, I waited a few days and drove through the tunnel again, when there was less traffic.  I was able to keep calm.  I have made a few trips through since then, including in rush hour, bumper to bumper traffic.

Tuesday afternoon I went to the allergist. (Charles thinks the allergist is a witch doctor).  With the incident on Christmas and a bit of an allergic reaction after stopping at my sister’s house, I decided to to get tested again.  I hadn’t been to the allergist since 2007.  It turns out I am slightly allergic to shellfish (crab is the worst), which could explain the Christmas reaction as I had eaten a crap load of shrimp.  She also said I was very slightly allergic to peanut butter (though not any nuts???).  She says I can still have some peanut butter but not everyday.  On a better note, though I am still highly allergic to grass and trees, my allergy to grass isn’t as severe as it was in 2007.  She had to give me an allergy pill before I left because I was so itchy after testing.  My throat got slightly tight but not so bad that she had to hit me with an epi shot.  She gave me a prescription for an Epi-pen  though and I will carry the pen with me.

My chest/underarm etc are still bothering me.  The skin is very tight and I have a lot of scar tissue.  I will be seeing the plastic surgeon on Wednesday to get more fluid removed from my breast area.  Surgery in another month or so.  Hopefully the surgeon will be able to get rid of most of the scar tissue and the pain will ease up.

We celebrated Charles’ 50th birthday today.  Christian met me in Manhattan on Friday night & we drove home together.  I was exhausted but we made it.  Christian & I picked Xavier up from the train station at around midnight last night.  We had a nice lunch & Gillian made a delicious chocolate cake from scratch.

I am now heading out to take Xavier to the Tuxedo train station & Christian back down to the Bronx.  Charles is enjoying his birthday by watching football.

Goodnight!