Ulcers! Yes, ulcers. I have one. Found out on Friday that I have an H. pylori ulcer, that is caused by the H. pylori bacteria. Ulcers are caused by bacteria, not stress, as most commonly believed. Stress will aggravate the ulcer, but it is not the source. But back to my diet plan. Ulcers. Give everyone the H. pylori bacteria. The main symptom of ulcers is lack of appetite. Even before I knew I had an ulcer, I wasn't eating much; maybe two meals a day for like 3 weeks. I've lost 10lbs! On Thursday at the doctor's I was weighed, and it was 10lbs less than the last time I was at the doctor's (a few months ago for my sinus attack from hell). Yeah. So, get an ulcer, you'll barely eat, and you'll loose weight. Also, throw in moving into a new house, and the pounds will fly off! HA!

I'm at my dad's... again... doing laundry. My washer/dryer at my place doesn't work and we'll eventually get around to replacing it... so in the meantime, I get to do my laundry at my dad's. At least he offered that option to me, I didn't have to beg. And I've been showering over here, as well, since my shower is AWOL at the moment. I just finished re-caulking the shower (I hate that word!!) and then I'll get to painting it tomorrow and Tuesday. Wait 24 hours for the paint to set, then I can shower! w00t! I'm excited.

Kiera discovered the deck today. She hasn't been out on it, but she noticed the sliding door was open so she sat in front of it and looked out... then... out of nowhere... a bird dove across her field of sight! Down she went into a defensive/pounce mode and watched the bird like there was nothing else in the world. She sat in front of the screen for a good hour watching birds and turning to every noise. I just can't wait until the squirrel comes back. He was sitting on the deck yesterday morning and was barking at me. Weird.

I finished reading World War Z last night and it was really good. A chilling look at the world-wide chaos of an all-out zombie invasion. The only thing I didn't like was that there was no real explanation as to what started the zombies. Apparently a little boy in China was dubbed Patient Zero after he got sick from playing around a man-made-lake. But I guess that adds to the creepiness and fear of zombies: no one really knows what starts it. George A. Romero played with the idea that cosmic radiation from a passing meteor caused it (Night of the Living Dead), and Patient Zero by Maberry introduced biological warfare zombies... there are hundreds of ways to create zombies, I guess. Anyhoo. A solid 8.5 on my rating scale. It's one of the best zombie books I've read (and sadly there aren't many). Super good. And the part about the North Korean tunnels? Holy crap, super freaky! I'm really thinking about getting the audio version. Henry Rollins is on it (as are Alan Alda, Carl & Rob Reiner) and I love me Henry Rollins! He did a voice for one of the Joker gang members in Batman Beyond. Next time I head to Half Price Books I'll have to look for it.

Today I started The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson. It's one of those cozy mysteries, where you don't really see any violence but the hero/ine stumbles upon the dead body or crime. So far, almost 1/2 way through, I am thoroughly enjoying it. It's about Brett Kavanaugh, who owns The Painted Lady tattoo parlor in Las Vegas, who is the last person to see a missing woman, Kelly Masters, alive. And all these other twists and turns keep coming, dragging her deeper into the crime and mystery surrounding Kelly's disappearance. I'm not even done with it and I can't wait for the next book in the series, Pretty in Ink, which is coming out in April of 2010 (so is the 4th in Patti O'Shea's Light Warriors series!). I am definitely digging this series more than the Coffeehouse one by Cleo Coyle. There were one or two things about that story, or where the characters were heading that I didn't really like. But this one is fun and smart and funny, and it involves tattoos!

Well, off to tend to laundry and maybe read some more Las Vegas mystery funness! Hopefully I'll have internets in my new place by mid-August, so I won't have to come over to my dad's all the time. I'm annoyed I can't even shower in my own house... *le fume* Oh well.

Ciao!