The green Stegosaurus got me started.

When I was 5 years old my kindergarten class put on a play. There were songs and children dressed up as various characters. I was the green Stegosaurus, thank you very much. It was my acting debut. (Which was followed up by two appearances as the lead in GT And The Halo Express, some random part in Will Rogers Follies, and Hattie in Kiss Me Kate.)

And wouldn't you like to know how I landed the role of the green Stegosaurus? Of course you would! Well let me tell you. It's because I came down with a little virus known as Chicken Pox. You see, I missed two weeks of school while suffering and itching my way through the illness. (Which left me with a nice scar right in the middle of my forehead too.) And while I scratched at sores and ate popcicles, my classmates were learning the songs for the play. By the time I returned to school we were only a day away from "curtain" and the only person who wouldn't be required to sing the songs with the rest of the children was the green Stegosaurus. Hence my being cast into the role.

So I have Chicken Pox to thank for getting my acting career started. I also have it to thank for something else. Perhaps equally as uncomfortable too. Can you guess what it might be?

Oh yeah baby.
I have * SHINGLES.

*I really wanted to insert an adjective into that sentence, but this is a family blog.

And guess what's awesome about shingles. Nothing. But if I were being sarcastic... and I am... I would say its the fact that you can do absolutely nothing about it. No treatment. No medication. No prevention. You just have to, as my doctor put it, "let it run its course". Fabulous.

So here I am letting it run its course.

Thanks so much J.W. Webb Elementary kindergarten class of 1984 and the boy with the brown hair who peed in his pants at naptime and passed this lovely virus on to me.

P.S. If I'm being totally honest, it's not half as bad as it sounds. I'm really not in pain. It's just a feeling of irritated skin, like a minor burn. I've heard of people having much worse cases, so for that I'm thankful.