Several Random Thoughts

I choked on a chicken bone earlier today. It was pretty scary. At first it felt like it was just going down wrong but then I realized it was stuck. I could breathe, but only in between really nasty cough/gags. The ER is only two or three blocks from my apartment, and I was prepared to run over there while I could still sort of breathe (probably not the best plan) when I coughed it out. Pretty scary. I tried doing the Heimlich on myself but it was really half-assed. Like, I slapped my chest with my fist like you do on Yom Kippur. Anyway, now my throat hurts despite four hot chocolates. Yup. Four. Tea would have been better, I know.

I totally rocked Chanukah this year. I mean, Chanukah was my freaking bitch. I gave kickass gifts my family loved, including my two little nieces. I love seeing the look on peoples' faces when they open a gift I've given them and they like it. For the second year in a row, the creme fraiche whipped soap I got from ETSY were a big hit. So were the Zoobies. And I got some really nice stuff, too, like an immersion blender. I can't wait to use it enthusiastically for a month and then lose interest and send it to the end of the cabinet where kitchen accessories go to die.

I saw Next to Normal again on Friday--I'm keeping to my "once a month" plan. For the first time in a long time, my OCD started acting up and I had trouble concentrating. I don't know if it's because I was nervous about work stuff, or really excited about the night (seeing it with friends, with front row seats), or if the weather is exasperating my symptoms, or because I've seen the show so many times that my mind wanders, but I zonked out during a bunch of songs. What I did see, though, was awesome as always. I just hate having that feeling again and hope I can overcome it. I used one of the techniques my therapist taught me to stay in the here and now, and it sort of worked.

I saw Ragtime tonight. I cried five different times. A beautiful production. I thought I wouldn't like the skeletal set, much different than the elaborate display of the original production, but it worked for me. It seemed appropriate for the early industrial age in which the show takes place. My one complaint is Coalhouse's walking-powered car. I felt he should be wearing a Fred Flinstone costume while driving it.

OK, now I'm sugar crashing. More later. . .