Passing It On: The Sugar Doll Blogger Award

I was so surprised to find that Lana over at Living It, Loving It just suggested I receive the Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award.

To continue the fabulousness, I'm supposed to let you know 10 things you don't know about me (hmmm...!) and suggest 5 other bloggers (that's the easy part!). So here goes!

10 Things You May Not Know About Me

1 I have many nicknames, some dating way, way back: Larry, Luigi, Algae, Lor, Lurleen, Leo, Dixie and I'm sure others I'm not even aware of (!).

2 I wanted to be a vet or marine biologist (shades of Jacques Costeau!) when I was growing up.

3 I love animals – sometimes I think more than people...

4 If I had to pick, I'd go for British over American television.

5 I was a bookworm growing up.

6 I never paint my fingernails colours, only my toes.

7 I love to travel but hate to fly – not because I'm scared, but just because I find it so bloody uncomfortable (and that was before the RA diagnosis!!).

8 I was meant to be rich (something obviously went seriously awry!).

9 I speak some German, Italian and French – enough to get by day-to-day, but not at all fluently.

10 I don't hold grudges, but I do obsess about things.

Passing It On

Here are my picks for 5 other bloggers without whom my RA journey would be a much lonelier one. They keep me company, give me support and make me laugh. Thanks so much, ladies!!

1 Wren at Rheumablog – could there be anyone more supportive?

2 Helen at Pens and Needles – just the cheer I often need, and she's Canadian!

3 WarmSocks at Itis – another great support in a cold RA world.

4 Mariah at From This Point. Forward. – a law student who makes me laugh and props me up.

5 Bionic Pony at, yes, Bionic Pony! – a funny Canadian RA'er.

Check them out! You're sure to enjoy their blogs! And thanks, Lana!!

Fear Factor

I've just been posting a comment on Bionic Pony's blog about feeling light-headed today before my blood tests and my fear of blood – my own blood, that is! Yes, despite the fact that I cope with needles just fine, the thought of my own blood is a problem for me.

It all started in high school when I had the brilliant idea to donate blood. A friend decided to come along, and as we waited, she started getting really nervous. I was like, "It'll be fine!" But when we got in, they got about a 1/2 pint out of me when I started feeling faint, and they had to stop. Meanwhile my friend was absolutely fine – go figure!

Now, every time I see my blood (note I say "my" not "somebody else's"!) my brain starts screaming, "Emergency, emergency!"

I've been known to feel faint when I get a nosebleed. It's something I hate about myself. It feels so, well, weak and illogical. I mean, I know I'm not going to die when I get a nosebleed. But somehow, some primeval part of my brain isn't convinced of that fact.

And I am OK with other people's blood (so egotistical, no? haha!). Although I've never been around masses of blood, I have been at five births (my two nieces, nephew and the two kids of a friend), and seen various nosebleeds, minor cuts, etc.

What to do, what to do?

P.S. Actually, despite my comment on Bionic Pony's blog, blood tests usually aren't a problem for me; I just look away. But today I was just feeling particularly hard done by: Yesterday I had a dentist appointment to prepare a tooth for a crown. And while there wasn't any pain involved (the tooth in question has no nerves), it was exhausting (I ask myself, How can lying in a dentist's chair for four hours be exhausting? But it was – I was wiped by the end). And, so, today, I was just fed up with being poked at and prodded, was feeling sorry for myself, and my brain started getting the better of me. Mind over matter, I swear, mind over matter – in this case, to my detriment.