Life, Libby, and the Pursuit of Happiness

This week has been another of those weeks from the blazing hot place below. I've been down, really tired, and a sore started inside my mouth (yes, gross but there's a point to this). On my way to the doctor on Wednesday, I nearly fell asleep driving across a major bridge. Considering I normally struggle with insomnia, this is rather out of character for me. The doctor gave me more than three minutes this time and listened much better. I'm off one medication and starting methotrexate. It's a chemotherapy drug given in small doses to help control my immune system. There are lots of scary side effects, but my dosage is small enough that I shouldn't be effected by them. He looked at the sore in my mouth, but dismissed it pretty quickly. But by mid-afternoon yesterday, it was all along my jawline inside both cheeks and bottom lip. Jess though that it might be an allergic reaction, so I took an antihistamine, and sure enough it got better. I called the doctor: he thought it was thrush and wanted to put me on an antibiotic. I went to see a family doctor today, and I'm probably having an allergic reaction to one of my other medications. So I'm weaning off of that (possible withdrawal side effects: suicidal thoughts, depression, incontinence), and I now have an epi-pen to carry with me, just in case. Did I mention that my best friend's wedding is this weekend, and I'm standing up in it? Jess and I joked on the way home that if I start having trouble breathing during the ceremony, I'll give him a hand signal so he can rush up and stab the epi-pen into me and stop the reaction. Of course then the bride might the one having trouble breathing. :)

Life Libby and the Pursuit of Happiness by Hope Lyda. Libby Hawthorne has been living her life for a long time waiting for that big promotion which will lead to her finding true love, dressing better, making more friends, becoming closer with God, understanding her family, and falling in love with the perfect man. Haven't we all been waiting for that promotion? Instead what Libby gets is a demotion, newly single, and questioning every decision she's made in the last five years. When her former boss Cecelia promises Libby that promotion if she just helps her with one last project, Libby takes the bait turning her whole world upside-down. Libby is one of the most delightful characters I've encountered in chick-lit! She's sarcastic and funny, and while she may get down on herself, it's mostly just because she's floundering through life trying to figure out what she really wants. The conversations between Libby and her friends ring so true; it's almost as if Lyda tape recorded coffee house conversations about people searching for the meaning of life. Libby wants what we all do: a fulfilling job, love, a good relationship with her family, and when God doesn't seem to put obvious choices in front of her for those things, she keeps slugging on hoping someday she's figure it all out. Libby speaks with the voice of Generation X, so when she starts listening to God and paying attention to the opportunities He puts in her path, it's heart-warming. Maybe the ending is a little too neat, but that's just because I fell so thoroughly in love with Libby and her friends, that it seems to soon to see them go. There were a couple of moments that seemed manufactured for plot purposes, but with snappy dialog, great characters, and a strong message of faith, this is a great read!

Say a few prayers for Mia, her right knee has been hurting her again if we skip a dose of her medicine, and now her right wrist is starting to hurt too.