Working my BUTT off. I came home yesterday and had to turn around and go back, so didn't get home for the evening till 8:30, then had to go in before 6:00 AM today. I think I'm running on nervous energy. I'm trying to do some other things so that work doesn't subsume my life. This evening R and I went to dinner at Los Compadres and then to the mall to walk a couple of rounds.

Don't believe I mentioned that we hired a replacement for the lab person who got sucked into the plant. She has a degree in biology and one year of lab experience. Due to her mistake-less resume and her interview, I expected her to be sharp and a quick study, and have not been disappointed. She's curious, pays attention when you tell her something so you only have to tell her once, and otherwise looks like a good fit with the rest of the team, which is very important. They have taken on a lot of her training and seem to like her. I love the fact that she is unflappable. And that she had a sinus infection last week but came to work anyway, when she clearly didn't feel like it. I told her midafternoon on Friday that if she felt bad she could go on home; not that I was sending her home, but I didn't want her to think I would think she was a crybaby for leaving early her first week. Oh, no, she was OK; 4:30 was just around the corner. Great attitude.

I had an appt. today with the neurologist who helps me manage my tremor. He came into the room saying, "What's shakin', baby!" and we both cracked up. I want to ramp up or add to my meds for better control, and thought this would be a good opportunity to do something about the migraines, so we're trying a beta blocker that ought to do both. Topamax supposedly treats both, but I've read that it makes you stupid, and as I told the doc, I need every neuron I can scrape up. He denies that Topamax in the dosage he would give me would make me stupid, but it can cause weight loss which I do not need, he said.

I'm actually being kind of a guinea pig for F, whose migraines are horrible, and who has inherited my tremor. A week or two ago she told me that her lab partner sniped at her for not holding her test tube still, so it's probably time to do something. We'll probably visit my neurologist when she comes home for the summer and get something going. And of course there's a whole list of food that might be migraine triggers, so I am to keep track of what I've been eating when one hits, and I'll tell F to as well. "You're going to tell me not to eat chocolate," I told the doctor. No, he said, and he didn't. Maybe it won't turn out to be a trigger for me, but I have to say that even if it does I might just have to deal with it. I'll give up cheese and coffee if I have to but you can have my chocolate when you pry my cold dead fingers off of it.