Instead of posting a super sexy HNT today, I have decided that a super sexy facial shot is in order:

These two fine steeds were my buddies when I visited my Dad in Utah. Their fence and my Dad's backyard connected, so hanging out with them only required walking out the back door. The one on the right is the mommy, and she never let her son get too much attention from me. Jealous bitch! She would put her nostril right up in my face and attempt to suck the flesh off my face and then blow me away with horse-scented nose air. It was like horsey CPR. I'm going to miss her.
According to the "Five Stages of Grief" I'm experiencing steps 1 (half of it), 2 and 4 all at the same time right now. Because I'm an over-achieving multi-tasker. Those steps are:
1. Denial and Isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
I'm not in denial, but I'm really good at the isolation part whenever I'm sad/overwhelmed/anxious. I think I excel in isolation. Last night I decided that I should get an Olympic gold medal for that one. My best friends understand that when shit goes bad wrong in my life, they won't hear from me. I'm not the friend that calls you up crying in the night. Because everyone knows that bottling shit up is much healthier than dealing with it, right?
Speaking of last night, I have been pissed off lately. Here is the finest recipe for anger:
10 cups Sam PMS
15 cups dead Dad
8 cups fibro (read pain, tired and tired of pain)
Mix well and broil. Pray for period to start.
Where was I? Stages of grief, thank you. We have isolation, anger and depression. H3.2 finally pinned me down (not in a sexy way) and made me talk again last night. In the end, when I opened up to him, I felt much better. We were in bed, cuddling and Dude (the cat for you newbs) was curled up on me also. H3.2 called me a douche bag for not letting him in, and not letting him be there for me.
H3.2: Douche bag
Sam: Dude would never call me a douche bag.
H3.2: That's because he can't talk.
Sam: Asshole.
I felt much better when I woke up this morning. Not well enough to get nekkid, but well enough to post. Then something horrible occurred, that for some of you will fill the very deepest, darkest parts of your bunghole with terror and dismay. I was poisoned.
Some of you may know/remember that I can't eat gluten. For the Reader's Digest version, I can't eat wheat/rye/barley/oats. It has been almost three years since I have ingested bread, crackers, crabcakes, regular soy sauce, FUCKING EVERYTHING because so many American foods contain hidden forms of gluten. Occasionally I eat something that I shouldn't, not on purpose but because I'm eating out and I don't realize that XYZ has been somehow contaminated. This is usually just a matter of frying french fries in the same oil as chicken nuggets at a fast food joint, and not a major incident.
This morning I arrive at Baby Z's house at 6:15am. Although I HATE mornings and I am lobbying for their cancellation, I have become more accepting of getting up at the buttcrack of dawn. I am greeted by Momma Z and the delicious smell of a bean stew cooking. Momma Z is the best when it comes to serving me gluten-free food. She made two stews: Sam Safe and regular. The regular contained a seasoning packet that I couldn't eat. I was such a fucking happy camper that I proceeded to eat the bean stew RIGHT THEN. Not a full serving, but enough to make my tummy happy. She left, I settled into the couch and went back to sleep until Baby Z woke up.

Several hours later I stirred the regular bean soup. I noticed little noodle thingies and inspected
my soup more closely. I saw a suspicious item in my Sam Safe stew. It looked a lot like barley. (The picture is off the web, for those of you not familiar with the evil look of barley) I didn't eat any more, and left a voicemail for Momma Z.
I played with Baby Z, blah blah and for some reason I wasn't hungry for my usual breakfast. My tummy started to feel bloated and nauseous and yucky. Momma Z called back and HOLY FUCK I ate barley. She was so sorry, and I'm sure she'll never forget that barley is a no-no for me. However, this leaves me with some really fun things to look forward to:
- Bloated stomach and pukey feeling (today)
- Really stiff, sore muscles (tomorrow morning because it makes the fibro flare up)
- Constipation/diarrhea (over the next week)
- Acne (next week)
Not to mention the possible internal damage that I can't see. Fuck me. Sure took my mind off of my sorrows, though.
To all of you that continue to read, comment and support me: Thank you. I need it. I can talk to you when I can't seem to open up to anyone else.
Sidenote: Four people have died in 3 separate car-related accidents in the past 24ish hours in San Diego. WTF?