Birthdays, Benedryl & Irish Bahá'í's

Isabella turned a big 5 this weekend. I can hardly believe this age has hit her already. Somehow i can STILL remember her birth, all 48 hours of it. Anyway, suffering (birth included) usually begets joy. Bella is no exception. She is very sweet and full of magnetic energy. The picture to the left is taken from Isabella's Montessori class and celebration of her birthday. They celebrate it in a very imaginative way. First the teacher explains that in 2001 Isabella was born, and then as holds the Earth, she walks forming a circle around a candle surrounded by the 12 months of the year. As she walks around the months, the class sings: "And the earth went around the sun, tra la, the earth went around the sun tra la la." for each year that she is on this Earth. Another way of seeing time, through the years of a child. A wonderful time and thanks to Carla making brownies, the kids enjoyed the whole celebration. : )

Later that day...

It was my 9th injection of allergy shots, meant to clear my immune system of the reactive negative histimines that are created when I am exposed to every tree, weed and dander this side of the US.

What happened? I waited for 20 minutes (okay a little shorter than 20) drove away in my car and went back to work for a conference call on a contract rewrite for CA that would take several hours. On my way back to work, I felt the same irritation that I always do; a slight localized itching and a general sense of discomfort. Well, this time, it did not go away. 20 minutes later, I was in my office with a major systemic reaction to my shots. Great...what a way to start a weekend. 25 mgs of Benedryl about one hour later and I felt much better but not without first feeling the strangest hives itchiness and swelling plus throat irritation that reminded me of the allergy scene in HITCH the movie. Well, it is over and happily even though I was sleepy for the rest of day due to the medicine, I was fine. One little note, my allergy shots are now going to take longer since they are decreasing the dosage going forward. This means that for the next month or so, I will have to continue my shots on a weekly basis, this time with more caution and pre-medicatioon. Maybe by Spring I'll know if it is worth it.

Later that night...

Pieter and I were invited to a memorial for Adib Taherzadeh, an inspiring teacher of the Bahá'í Faith, a former member of the Universal House of Justice and a bonafide Irishman (he settled there in the 50's as a pioneer and teacher of the Bahá'í Faith). His grandson lives nearby and held a special memorial for him. In addition to the wonderful tea and home made cake, (yum yum) he told special stories about his personal relationship with him and also shared an excerpt of a talk given to the Irish Bahá'í community back in 1998... To hear about how the first Bahá'ís that settled into Ireland, a small community that has now grown to hundreds...makes me think of possibilities here in Hillsborough. It was wonderful and inspiring, providing a sweet end to a hectic day.