Well now. I expected to be done with the character charts for my 3 MCs and have started on the character summaries for supporting characters. Didn’t. Happen. Why, you ask? You did ask, right? OK, here’s why:

1. I went in to work Tuesday morning to find an overpowering scent in my office.
2. I won’t say it was a stench, because in small doses it’s quite pleasant, but it was…yes….overpowering.
3. It triggered a massive allergy attack, my sinuses went haywire, everything became inflamed and swelled up against my eardrum, blocking my eustachian tube.
4. I’ve lost all hearing in my left ear. It’s uncertain if it’s permanent hearing loss. It’s clearing up, but even then my hearing isn’t 100% in that ear.
5. I spent Tuesday on on the sofa after a (mostly useless) visit to my health clinic (but which garnered me a coveted appointment with an ENT specialist–two days later).
6. The scent was identified–my plug-in air freshener had been knocked over sometime between when I left Monday evening to when I came in Tuesday morning, and leaked into my bookshelf, from where it leeched into the air.
7. Wednesday I spent on the sofa, popping meclizine faithfully every four hours to ward off the spins.
8. Thursday went to the ENT for a mostly depressing prognosis. They cleaned my ears and gave me a hearing test. Perfect hearing in my right ear. Played sounds in my left ear at jet-engine decibels, which didn’t register at all. At. all.
9. They gave me steroids & an antiviral to clear up inflammation in my inner ear (labyrinthitis–inflammation of the inner ear which causes severe vertigo–is the official diagnosis).
10. Friday & Saturday I was able to move around more and stay upright. Was able to decrease dosage of the meclizine. Saturday night–last night–I noticed I was able to hear the movie (Zombieland, which has nothing to do with anything but just thought I’d mention it) better than I’d heard anything for four days, and realized my ear didn’t feel so tightly packed as it had.
11. Today: ear plugged again, but doesn’t feel as heavily packed. I know it will clear later when the steroids kick in full force. Still not sure about my hearing coming back 100%. Have another hearing test on January 24th, and an MRI sometime in between to rule out masses & tumors.
12. So besides my bank account being shot in the ass with all the copays and my deductible, I am far behind in my character summaries, and still have a character chart to do, and a novel blueprint to finish by the end of January. I can do it, but….oy!! It’s been a tough week!
13. So what am I doing here blabbing to you guys? I’m outta here!!