Let me sum up:

hockey, work, headache theory, flowers, cats, knitting

So it's the Big Bad Bruins meeting the Broad Street Bullies!

Sorry. The Globe mentioned that Boston and Philly haven't met in the playoffs since 1978, and I had a flashback to the 70s there.

Game 1 is Saturday at 12:30 in Boston; the early start is apparently to accommodate the Kentucky Derby, and yeah we finished sixth and have home ice in the second round, how weird is that? This is one strange year in the playoffs so far.

Go Bruins, go Bruins!
(Sorry, Kate.)

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Work right now is like being on call, or what I imagine what it would feel like to be on call. I have to be there, but it hasn't been busy, and I don't feel inclined to find long-term projects to fill the time. I'm there for when my replacement has questions, or to check his work, but he doesn't have that many questions and he's been doing fine, so I haven't really been working hard, I have to admit.

Say, did you know that at Project Gutenberg, you can read books online, free?

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I read, or rather skimmed through, a book on headaches recently, which proposed a rather radical diet scrub to remove all possible food triggers. The idea is that any one of these many types of food could be triggering your migraines, so you remove them all, then you can gradually reintroduce them one at a time to see if they actually are a problem. It's a little extreme, but in theory I don't disagree with it. Also, I appreciate that someone believes there is a connection between my headache tendencies and the stiff, "crunchy" feeling at the back of my neck.

However. In practice, the idea just about gives me hives. I have enough trouble managing everyday tasks, laundry and dishes and grocery shopping and cooking and preparing and storing and holy cow. Just balancing healthy eating and the budget taxes me. I can't imagine working around not eating anything with:

• chocolate
• caffeine
• MSG
• nuts and nut butters
• vinegars (including ketchup!)
• onions
  
• citrus fruits and raspberries
• fresh bread products
• beans
• much dairy (cheese, yogurt)

The only way I could possible handle that diet was if someone else prepared it all for me, and all I had to do was eat it. Even then, I would miss everything, but I think it would be worth trying to see what results it had. (Though I shudder to think of giving up so many things for 4 months, which is what he advises.) In the world where I live, it's just not going to happen.

I mean, let's talk about chocolate. I love chocolate. Love it. Yet if I knew that it would always give me a headache, would I eat it? No. Even if I knew that giving up chocolate would mean I never got another headache, that would be worth it. But to give it up because sometimes it gives me a headache? Yeah, not so much. Some things make life worth living.

If you're wondering, I refuse to follow the advice given to people with seasonal allergies, too. Minimal time outside, don't open windows at home or in the car ... why don't I just shut myself in a box and never come out? I'd be "safer" there.

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My, am I grumpy lately or what? You'd never know that I've been enjoying all the flowers and slowly-improving weather. I mean, daffodils and forsythia I really only like for being harbingers of Spring, but crocus and tulips and now lilacs?


LOVE.

Also a certain furball makes me happy.


A boy and his bear.


Even his sister was amusing me yesterday, rolling on the floor trying to catch her tail.

And I started swatching for the next pair of socks. Socks That Rock may call their yarn Goody Goody; I will call it rainbow sherbet.


So, you know, in case you were worried? It's not all bad here.