Some notes on my Thanksgiving:

I think I�ve pretty well established that I�m allergic to my family. Let me explain.

I know I�m allergic to a few things, they were pretty bad at times when I was growing up, but I never had shots or pills or anything. I figured I was allergic to cats, but we had two in our house, and I built up a tolerance, and it was never that bed. I also figured I was allergic to dust � although that can mean any number of things. Most likely, its that you are allergic to dust mites, tiny bugs that feed on dead skin (which, as you know, is what makes up 90% of normal house dust).

Once I moved out of my parent�s house, and headed to college, I Never had allergy problems. But I�d visit home and be sneezing the whole damn time. It seemed pretty clear that I was allergic to cats, since the two kitties still lived at the �rents house. Over the years I also established that I was probably mildly allergic to a few other things, like dust and some pollens, but I am definitely allergic to cats. Most of the time, allergies aren�t a problem.

But some cats I don�t seem all that allergic. When I crashed at my cousins pad Wednesday night, I shared the couch with his cat Weevil (Weevil is an absolutely kick-ass cat, by the way, everyone should meet Weevil). Weevil slept on, near, and by me all night, purring happily away. When I got up Thursday morning, I was suffering from hardly any allergy symptoms, just a mild attack at best. However, as I headed over to the his rent�s place for the festivities, and it filled with all my relatives, my allergy symptoms were exacerbated, and continued throughout the day, even though there weren�t cats in the house. I was sneezing all day, often violently enough to get a bloody nose (which happens to me, I get bloody noses real easy). After we left, and my head cleared up, I didn�t have many problems.

This isn�t the first time I have launched into seemingly inexplicable sneezing fits at large indoor family functions. So, I think I�m allergic to my family.