Andelicious Ande - a vanilla story

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2012-02-04T16:22:00.002-06:00

No warranty implied or stated

2011-09-16T06:40:00.002-05:00

Thinking about the hurricane coming in over Newfoundland, and the changes in technology that allow us to know about severe weather happening near and far... I wondered once again if the weather is changing or the knowledge of it is. Which led to the immutable global warming thought process...which led to my determination that no one ever said the planet or our ecosystem would stay the same. I get that we are causing damage and should minimize it. I get that we cling like barnacles to the concept of how things should be and we resist change in all of the things we do. But... there's no implicit or explicit promise that THIS is the way things are supposed to be.

We as humans need to try to blend in a little better with this sphere we call earth and minimize our impact while rolling with the punches and nudges of change. And that was my amazing thought process this morning, which I had to record before it was beat out of me with the sledgehammer we call work.

Blogged,
Ande

I did it!

2010-12-29T12:56:00.003-06:00

About that mouse poop

2010-12-07T19:28:00.001-06:00

So, really, how much poo can come out of a mouse? I am massively grossed out and getting dishpan hands from the washing of the everything.

Dear God....

2010-12-07T18:05:00.002-06:00

1. Thanks for Spaghetti, I like it.

2. Please tell the mice to live outside. You did, however, convince me to throw out the 2009 Halloween candy. Of course, now I get to throw out the rest of the food in that cupboard too. But that's okay, it's all good. Can mice open cupboard doors?

3. Thanks for teaching me that when piece falls off the vacuum, I should put it back on immediately. Now, can you help me find it? Apparently it's necessary. :(

Love,
Drene.

Another CAT scan Friday...

2010-11-14T19:50:00.002-06:00

Think I'll be able to tell y'all I am one year tumor free??? I'm thinking so! Which reminds me, I got the contrast CT six months ago and didn't die. Fooled them! My left foot is still always cold - it's become a bit of a running joke between Dr. Debertin and I, as I ask about it every time I am in. Of course, he has to determine that it is, in fact, still colder than the right, every time. And he always seems so surprised.

I had allergy testing and found out I am allergic to all the foods I normally eat - beef, cinnamon, strawberries, bananas, apples...etc... and many I don't eat at all for fear of death - salmon, mussels, shrimp, lobster, clams, scallops... and food preservatives...Interesting! I am eating none of those things now (as much as possible - food preservatives? - everywhere!) and I am having a lot less night time illness.

The blood pressure is still a mess, but we are working on it. Medication is a better option than surgery on the artery, says my nephrologist. I respect his opinion, but I'm getting tired of the high BP. Four meds and counting, and med number 4 has changed every three months this year. This one isn't working either.

I think I need to go back to the old fashioned way to treat this - lose weight. I can now run 6.5 km and want to run more and more (I just neeed a little more daylight!) and I am not losing a pound... but it may be stress - up for a big promotion at work. Work-life balance is so important - and so difficult to achieve. I think it's the right move, but it is a big job. And a lot of people will be counting on me to make their work lives better.

Of course it may also be the Halloween candy!
Love you all...
a

OK People, Start praying

2010-03-11T21:37:00.002-06:00

I went up to get the CT that Dr. Debertin ordered today and got tossed out. Still the same old issue with the fact that I may be allergic to the contrast dye - which is precisely why I had requested an MRI instead! His exact words were "You don't need that expensive test." Tomorrow is my appointment with Dr. Pippy the nephrologist, and we need to pray that she listens to me (which will requre us to pray that I don't come across as the know it all hypochondriac I am), and that she knows what is needed, and that I make enough sense and present a convincing enough argument for why the sudden onset high BP needs to be investigated as potentially being caused by a narrowing of the artery to the kidney since it started when I had a tumor removed from my kidney! The outcome we are looking for - an MRI with contrast to verify the blood flow to the right kidney, and whatever other tests might be necessary to make this blood pressure thing better before my head pops off. :)

(Remember those dandelion games as a kid - "Mary had a baby and his head popped off!" What in the heck were we thinking? LOL!)

Love you all
Ande

Burl was a ganglioneuroma - NOT malignant!

2009-12-02T00:03:00.003-06:00

FlairButtons.com - Facebook Flair Buttons

Okay! Finally feeling better!

2009-11-18T22:31:00.002-06:00

I realize I have not yet posted, but...I haven't been feeling quite like a million bucks. I feel like at least $10 today, so I thought I would post!

The surgery went well, it was reported to me that the tumor was lemon sized (no word on whether that was a large or small lemon) and that they got it all out. Lovely little self contained Burl! No word on the pathology yet, and the doctor's office won't tell me over the phone. I have my followup appointment on the 30th, so we will see then. The incision is massive and ugly, looks like railroad tracks. When the staples came out, I got to have stitches! But that's out too, so I am feeling much better. The surgery was on the 30th, and the hospital stay was...pretty awful. I was in a room for the first few days with a demented lady who threatened to kill me because I wouldn't give her water, never mind that I had just had surgery! She had just had hip surgery, though, so it wasn't like she could get up to kill me, it is just pretty stressful to have someone keeping you awake all the time threatening you. I think she was part vampire, because she only slept after the sun came up. I was changed to a new room on Monday, and my next roommate was sweet and nice, didn't threaten to kill me once.

On Tuesday I got my pain pump taken out, and then was abandoned for about 7 hours because my nurse call button was apparently not working. Previous to that, I had a special call button because of the pain pump. I begged the doctor to let me go home, but he wasn't having any of it. On Thursday, I begged my way out of there. You don't want to know what I had to do to get out, (It was GI system related) but as soon as I did it I announced it to the world! Mom came and drove me home, and all the plans I had for what to wear home were promptly chucked - I wore my pyjama pants instead. I had planned on a loose skirt and leggings, but that was NOT happening! On Sunday of that week I wrestled Mom for my truck keys, and had a couple good days - I couldn't do much for long, but I was feeling okay. On Wednesday I started feeling bad, and went to the Emerg, saw cousin Tom and got an antibiotic for what he thought was an abcess/infection near the bowel. Now, after five days on the antibiotics, I am feeling better again and have a bit more energy. Still not as much as I'd like, and I move pretty slowly, but...I can move!

So that's the good news, onward and upward from here, right?
Love you all!

Howdy y'all!

2009-10-29T06:47:00.002-05:00

Well, today is the day to go to the hospital. Can't say I am looking forward to it, really! I think the fear of the unknown is probably the biggest issue for me at this point. Not that I am a control freak or anything! Well, maybe a little. I have to call between 9 and 10 to find out when the room is ready. Sort of like a bad hotel.

I have nothing profound to say. Keep up the prayers, they help so much! I am pretty sure I won't be posting for a while, but, know that I'm giving the doctors and nurses a hard time, and I am probably going to be annoyed because my hair is messy. See you in 7 to 10 days!

Love to all,
Ande, Andrene, 'Drene, 'Drenie

PS - I figured out the secret meaning of life - it's just what Jesus said - Love One Another.

Surgery Date!

2009-10-20T08:42:00.001-05:00

My surgery will be October 30th - seems very very soon, even though it is what I have been waiting for! Now I just have to Vitamin C this cold to death and get ready to kick some butt!
a

Update!

2009-10-19T07:48:00.003-05:00

My appointment, which was supposed to be today, was changed, at the last minute to last Wednesday. And here I am just updating you now! Imagine!

I went to Dr. Mowatt's office for the appointment and met with he and Dr. Morriss. I don't know that I mentioned that Dr. Mowatt's receptionist didn't know about the magic Canadian citizen no-need-to-pay form, and after talking to him about it last time, she told me that appointment was free, but if I didn't get my Medicare straightened out before this one, I would have to pay for it. Well, all mention of that went out the window at this appointment. Dr. Mowatt said keep working on Medicare because it will be easier in the long run, but everything is covered.

The verdict is: I will be having surgery. We still don't know what it is. They were sort of even disagreeing about it in front of me! LOL! Dr. Morriss was leaning towards paraganglioma, but Dr. Mowatt towards sarcoma. Doesn't really matter, cancer is cancer at this point. Interestingly, Dr. Mowatt perfectly described my own opinion of biopsies when he said "It has to come out regardless, why open it up into the retroperitoneal cavity?"

Both doctors kept saying I was young and otherwise healthy, like an annoying number of times. (I kept wanting to insert "attractive" as well, but I held back.) They can see the blood flow to the kidney and it doesn't look attached, so I may not lose that. Dr. Morriss said if it is not malignant, it is pre-malignant, so it needs to go. Dr. Mowatt said "We'll schedule you for surgery as soon as possible." I asked him to define the timeline a little further for me, and he said two to four weeks. Behind him, Dr. Morriss was mouthing "A month!". Seeing me looking at Dr. Morriss and trying not to laugh, Dr. Mowatt repeated himself. Dr. Morriss said "You must be doing surgery overtime, I won't be able to schedule this in for a month." Since we have two surgeons (Mowatt and Morriss) plus the neuro and cardiology who will have to be on standby, I think it is more than reasonable for it to be a month. I will be in the hospital 7 to 10 days unless there are complications. I asked about work and suggested I would be off for 2-4 weeks, but he said 6-8 weeks. Ewwww. I will get massive amounts of scrapbooking done, I guess. I will need more channels on the TV! I swear we got TLC and HGTV this summer but they no longer come in now. I have a stockpile of To Be Read books for the hospital.

I had to do a catecholamines/VMA test, which Dr. Morriss said should indicate if it were a pheochromocytoma (what Mom had, they changed the name, it was physiochromocytoma when she had it.) Said Dr. Morriss, theoretically the pheo would come with blood pressure changes that could be an issue during surgery, and when he said that, I said "That's what Mom had." and he said "He didn't tell me that. Did I know that?" And I said "I think so, maybe that's why you think paraganglioma." He gave me an appraising look. :) Mom didn't have any BP changes, I found out later, so I probably won't need to worry. I do need to do some more research though, since I thought pheo was no longer an option based on location. I am nothing if not curious.

I like Dr. Morriss, and I feel good about this. He has a sense of humor, and gets my stupid jokes, for which I am grateful. I was less comfortable with Dr. Mowatt last visit just because he seemed not to have a sense of humor (but then again, how many oncological surgery patients are looking for a sense of humor?) but in his defense he had a rotten cold and I am a complex case. In many ways!

So, after Laboratory Receiving finally determined which specimen jug I needed, I took my sample collection jugs home. When she gave it to me, it was a 3 l jug, and I asked for 2. She looked at me askance, but...I really did need two! It was no problem, although I couldn't go to the gravesite at Jerry's funeral because I had to run home to pee. I had to work Friday night, so I intended to finish up Friday morning (24 hour collection) and drop it off Friday before work. Due to overwhelming tiredness, I waited and dropped it off Saturday morning. I also went to Zellers, the Thrift store (scored two biggish pots! Yay! Now I have a pot big enough for potatoes for a Mosher family dinner!) and Deluxe Fish and Chips while I was in the City. I got home at noon and decided to cut kindling, since I would be able to sleep that night.... and of course I got called in to work. So I worked Saturday night.

This week, I have to work Monday, Tuesday and Thursday days, and then Friday night. Next week will be all nights. I may be too old for this! LOL! Even after a three hour nap yesterday (and believe me I nap at work) I had very little strength in my legs to walk in to work with today. Not so much of an issue that I am more than slowed down by it, but enough that I notice and am annoyed by it. I just kind of feel that I am walking through knee deep water. Other than that, the back pain is consistent, I have to sit down to tie my work boots and it is difficult to shave my legs in the shower. Mom and Jessie are going to get me one of those little old lady shower chairs, and for the boots, my chair was moved out of the entry way when I was moving stuff, so once I put that back, all will be well. I still fall over a little bit when I stand up too fast, and I am a little bit slow at getting up. Other than that, no issues.

That's the update!
a

???

2009-09-28T20:21:00.002-05:00

Dr. Mowatt wanted another CT. He said that would take 7-10 days to schedule, then schedule the appointment for 2 weeks later. I went downstairs and sucked up to the nice lady at CT, then went back upstairs and waited for Dr. Mowatt's nurse to come back from lunch, got a copy of the orders, went back downstairs and she fit me in right then instead of coming back tomorrow, which she originally thought she had to do. So I saved 7-10 days. Done, $977 later, but the radiologist here wouldn't use contrast either, so we are no further ahead. He and Dr. Morriss (the urologist) will consult and decide what to do next. My appointment is for the 19th to review the results. Hope someone at work will change shifts with me!

He said if it is lymphoma they will do radiation (not sure how they would differentiate), they may decide to do a biopsy but not likely, I will probably lose a kidney because of the blood flow issue, and that was about it. He did think surgery was still the most likely.

Now I am off to Texas to load up a truck and list the house with a realtor.
a

Irritated - and someone may have to be harmed.

2009-09-26T15:23:00.003-05:00

The back story: The company I work for, Skymedical, is subcontracted to NBPower to provide emergency medical 24/7 for the refurbishment. Skymedical provides a paramedic 24/7. During normal conditions, there is an occupational health nurse here Monday-Thursday and a ??? (guy we'll call Al - his qualifications are questionable) here Tues-Fri, both of these are during office hours. For some reason, the guy we'll call Al hates Skymedical. My first day, he ran down the company and my immediate supervisor, and even took a few potshots at the Skymedical owner. Being a person who doesn't give a crap, I didn't pay much attention. Someone said he wanted to work for the company, and wasn't hired. Someone else said he had a friend who was supposed to get the contract and didn't. He is a little little man, and all very short men have issues, in my experience. So, I ignored it. Who really cares? However, then Al gave my chest pain patient Pepto-Bismol and told him he didn't have to go to the hospital. And that was when I realized, this guy can be very dangerous.

Last week, an email came out to all Skymedical employees saying that a new schedule password would be issued because non-employees had access to the pswd, and that this password must be guarded with one's life, the schedule could no longer be viewed from the Health Unit computer, so this guy we call Al would not be able to access it. Apparently this annoyed him.

So, when Dr. Mowatt called for me at this number (why? Not sure The only reason they would have this number is because I called Dr. Wheelock's office from here...) He took a message. And then he took a little black book and put a sticker on the front that said "All skymedical employees must read this every day and initial to show that they have received the message." And then proceeded to write in there four pages of random things including "July 25: All employees must leave this book on the desk. Red book is to be put in cabinet." Until finally, at the bottom, the last message says:

"2009/09/25
Hi Ande, Dr. Mowatt's office called. Needed to get a hold of you before Monday. I don't have a list of Skymedical employee #s. I don't even know the password to know when your next shift is. Al."

Perhaps, then, dumbass, you could say - "No, I am sorry, she isn't working today, why don't you call her at home? Or on her cell phone? Or call her referring doctor?" But no, he takes full responsibility for something he has no intention of doing, getting the message to me. There was no call to my cell or my home phone from the doctor. Why? Because I am certain the "kind" gentleman at the HEALTH UNIT said he would take care of it. And we assume that other people will behave as professionals. Instead, this guy would prefer to inconvenience me and possibly impact my health, by making certain I have no way to get his message, just so that he can make the point to someone somewhere that his feelings are hurt for not being included with the new password to the schedule.

So, now, back to the most important part of this - why does Dr. Mowatt's office want me to call them before Monday? The options are not positive, with the worst being that my appointment has been cancelled. But hey, how would I know? Maybe they want me to fast for bloodwork? Maybe I am supposed to bring something else? No idea. :(

Ande

I have a report!

2009-09-22T16:29:00.002-05:00

I have an appointment with Dr. Mowatt (James!) next Monday at 11 AM. Then I am theoretically off to Texas to pack up a U-haul (Actually a Penske, because Robert said they are far far better!) and list the house with an agent, finished or not.

Everyone comoing into the health unit is sick! Which, of course, stands to reason, I suppose. Today alone we went through a 40 pill bottle of cold and sinus, a 24 pack of the same, TWO boxes of immodium (you know that's for diarrhea, right?) and one whole thing of Pepto-Bismol. YUCK! I am being very careful about handwashing, not touching my face, and I am eating tons of Vitamin C. I also read a very interesting article that has convinced me I should also be eating more vitamin D!

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/05/16/f-health-vitamin-d.html

I am a fan of these vitamin things. :)
Love to all
Drene

And......Kelly - I am so sorry I have not yet returned your sweet message! I will do so soon, I promise, Friday is my day off this week. YAY!

Nothing to report

2009-09-18T19:00:00.001-05:00

Called the doctor (Wheelock) today about the appointment with the next doctor (Mowatt), they have been out of the office since Wednesday, according to their message. I left a message and will follow up again on Monday.
a

Waiting

2009-09-11T20:06:00.002-05:00

Dr. Wheelock says he isn't the man for me. :(

I have to see Dr. Mowatt, a general surgeon with hepatobiliary system/liver/pancreas as a 'specialty' and oncology 'experience'. He should be joined for surgery by a Dr. Morris, (a urologist I believe) and apparently other characters as well to deal with the vein and artery from the kidney and the inferior vena cava, as well as the duodenum. Par-tay!

So I am waiting for Lori from Dr. Wheelock's office to make me a "fairly urgent" appointment, I am to follow up next Friday if I haven't heard from her by then.

I'm feeling a bit hateful right now, since my lovely new job can't figure out how to pay me, or at least not a consistent dollar value, and my phone died in the middle of talking to Andrene. So, I won't subject y'all to my pissyness, since everything will look better in the morning. God, I hope so anyways!
a

Appointment time!

2009-09-06T08:43:00.002-05:00

On Thursday afternoon, I called the doctor's office and got....no answer.

On Friday morning I called and..... got an appointment! The receptionist was very nice, she said that they wanted to fit me in next week, but had no appointments left on Wednesday, the day they normally saw patients. But, she was going to see if the doc would see me on Friday. She would ask him and call me back. I gave her my number at work so she could call back and explained that I worked shifts. She said...you work in Lepreau? Why yes! She knew the prefix because she lives in Musquash! We're like sisters now. :)

She called me back with a 10:30 next Friday, September 11th, appointment time. Woohoo!

Interesting notes:
1. One guy I work with, his wife is my fifth cousin, and they were at the reunion in Caraquet last month as well. In fact, he was sitting two rows ahead of us, and heard me translating to Olive. He also noted the freakishly small chair I fell into. He also thought the speaker (who happened to be his father in law) went on far too long, and said that even if you were a francophone it was still boring.
2. One girl I work with, she is the cousin of the next door neighbor/childhood friend of my oldest nephew, and she hung out with the daughter of my cousin MM, who is not currently working for NRF but is working in Rad Control, and he was here last night. In my very office.

Tiny little world, or what?

Last thing before bed...

2009-09-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

So....
Now, theoretically, they are going to call me and my appointment will be within a week. More tomorrow, I am sleepy. But.... kind of tiresome still. :)
a

Dooodeedodo....

2009-08-29T20:31:00.002-05:00

Whenever I am thinking things, I think, "I should blog that." Then I get to the blog page, and I think....what was that again? Forgetful!

Sometimes, I get to this page, and I think...wow, I can't post that, that's very negative! Interestingly enough, I think that maybe I have been wrong to not post negative things. The past few days have been very stressful for me. I have been trying to make all the people in my life happy, but the conflicting demands make that difficult. In the end, I made myself happy and no one was hurt too too much. I don't think. :)

Last night we got together and had a bonfire, Mom, Loretta, Charlene, Kathy and Kevin and the kids. We had fun, even including Mom thinking a bear might come eat us. :) But this is the crappy part - several times during the night I found myself thinking - will this be the last time I get to do this? And I am not even SICK! Very annoying. It is kind of like there is something hanging over my head, but I can't tell what it is. Might hurt, might not.

It is almost as if, I can't be my usual annoying busy body self with my nieces and nephews because I want them to remember me as different than that. And that is kind of what I have been doing with everyine else too, trying to have a bit of a "nice" persona that really doesn't fit all that well sometimes. My lesson from the last few days is that trying to make everyone happy just makes me unhappy.

I haven't been feeling well ever since my night shift on Thursday. I am not sure if I am too old or just too stressed but...ick. I must confess I am not looking forward to the family picture tomorrow... I intended to go to Clothesline today to look for a new shirt, but that didn't happen. I will be more excited when I know what I will wear, perhaps. I think It is time to go sit in my chair with the light out and pretend I am reading.
:)

Which reminds me...

2009-08-27T22:17:00.001-05:00

The guy I work with here if I am on weekdays has a nickname. Guess what it is?

BERT.

Good thing we re-named Bert to be Burl.
:)
a

AN UPDATE! (well, sort of!)

2009-08-27T21:32:00.002-05:00

Today was the day I was allowed to call and check in with June (the very nice reception person at Dr. Debertin's office) if the doc hadn't called me yet.... So I did.

She called and the temporary receptionist (the usual one is on vacation) could not find a record of me. She will be back on Tuesday and June will call her again. :(

How embarrassing since I keep telling all my Texas friends how much more awesome Canadian healthcare is!

On a related note, I had another long conversation about Paramedic care in NB with another Paramedic. One interesting comment was "We used to have the highest save rate in the country. (Referring to the SJ area) Now I can't remember the last save." Since the big change, they no longer have cardiac drugs. :( Sadly, the leveling that occurred in the province meant better care for some, but lesser care for others. And Joe Q. Public has no way of knowing! This Joan Q. Public is finding out way too much.

Not all paramedics are allowed to carry Valium. They have "Diazepam Intercepts" to stop patients from seizing. What the f? Who loses brain cells from seizures? Why, children, of course.

From another source, I found out that there are still areas in the province with BLS ambulances. Notably, they are also in areas where native Canadians live. First Nations get lesser care? Wonder why. Very saddened about this, the more I learn about the systems the more I see the broke parts. :(

So, I think I am going to sit quietly for a while and learn more. I may have to try to save the world after all. *Sigh*

A Super Hero's job is never done.
Ande

Anonymous Cousin

2009-08-20T20:59:00.001-05:00

Above the Happy Baker? This sounds interesting!!!!
a

Waiting

2009-08-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

LOVELY! :)
Still waiting for the neurosurgeon. Just so you know!
a

And the Update is....

2009-08-16T20:41:00.003-05:00

There really isn't one. :)

Nothing to see here. Move along......

Still waiting for the very busy (see, he must be good) Dr. WHEELOCK (We remembered - thanks Olive!) to call with an appointment. Neurosurgery must be Booming!
a

Waiting

2009-08-14T20:34:00.003-05:00

Mom, Olive and I went to Fredericton today for coffee with Margot, Bronwyn, Angie and the kids. Good coffee, good conversation! Still waiting. :) But my face hasn't leaked all day. Good times.

Update - Bert is now Burl!

2009-08-06T12:21:00.002-05:00

Bert has been renamed Burl! Why...because of the song, Goodbye Earl! Sing it with me....Goodbye, Burl! That was Olive's idea yesterday!

My wonderful Dr. Debertin has already sent my information to the neurosurgeon, we should have an appointment time call back next week, he thinks. It was actually nice to see Dr. Debertin again, he looks just like I remember, with just maybe a few new grey hair, and what a fabulous sense of humor he has. I didn't remember how funny he is!

I enjoyed the opprortunity to kind of recap 20 years of my life fairly quick. :)

***This post was temporarily suspended so that I could run to get a printer at Cox. It is now MUCH MUCH later.***

While I was at Cox asking to see Maggie, who had just stepped out to lunch, the guy had to get the phone....it was for me. :) Have to love a small town. It was Olive, Dr. Debertin's office had called and wanted me to call them before 4. I decided to just drive over there, since I had an hour to kill until Maggie got back.

Since I am clearly tired, I can't remember the name of the neurosurgeon...even though I have been saying it all day. Dr. Debertin said their office would call me within the next couple weeks with an appointment, and not to worry about the medicare, they have a special form and blah blah blah. WOW, huh? Thank you Canada oh great land of love and free healthcare! Thank you taxpayers! Dr. D said he had never heard of the form but it meant no 90 day wait for reinstatement of coverage, because I am a CANADIAN! Love it! That means my money worries are much much relieved.

He did present an interesting way of looking at the possibility of a biopsy, which everyone knows I am 100% against (or, at least I was.) He said, if you onlyhave four months to live, do you want to spend two of them recovering from surgery? Good point. Made me rethink a bit. However, as we are all aware, there is nothing I can't kick, and this will be no different. I will live to be the crazy cat lady. Woohoo!

I went to see Ella's play this evening, the Faery's Kiss, and it was wonderful. It is so fun to go somewhere and have half the audience wave when you walk in. Wooh, it was hot in there though! She mentioned that Dr. Tom had been to Dr. W - the neurosurgeon with no name - the day prior and had mentioned me so when Dr. D called, he was a tiny bit familiar. I very much appreciate the love everyone is showing me. Blessings, falling from the sky.

After the play we came home for Mom's homemade ice cream and a lively raspberry filled cake she had made. She also made us an amazing dinner tonight, Chicken Salad Piccata from the Rachel Ray recipes I absconded with from the doctor's office in Texas. Funny moment: I confessed to ripping them out of the magazine and my doctor said "This isn't the time to be worried about that!" to which I replied "Great, hand me the rest of the magazine then!"

In honor of the evening's entertainment:
Cast Of Characters: (since some readers are not in the full Mosher family loopage...)
Olive: Amazing sister whom I love
Maggie: Beautiful nice, daughter of Jessie, amazing sister whom I love. Maggie works at Cox, an electronics store, and has been voted "Family IT person."
Dr. Debertin: Childhood doctor (technically teenhood), with amazing sense of humor. Smart, AND funny!
Ella: Cousin from my mother's father's side... geesh. Cousin somehow, anyways, whom I love. Hooked me back up with Dr. D, who accepted me back as a patient thanks to this wonderful woman, who also is an amazing Actor. I practically lived at Ella's house as a teen. Tuesdays were at Ella's!
Dr. Tom: Ella's husband, kind intelligent surgeon who is rather stuck with a lot of random family bits like me by marriage and yet accepts it all with grace.
Dr. W: The as yet unknown neurosurgeon.
Mom: Somewhat self explanatory!

As a final act to the evening's post, I need mention that my cat can open doors. Even without opposable thumbs. So she is now no longer confined to my bedroom, and is wandering the house. Stacey saw her in the fireplace earlier this evening! She is on a chair near me looking quite happy and self sufficient. Hopefully she'll catch a mouse or something to prove her worth.
:)
Please keep praying, y'all!
a

(Insert theme from Sesame Street here)

2009-08-06T07:01:00.002-05:00

Sunny days, chasing the clouds away....

It has been sunny every day since I have gotten here! The weather is beautiful and I have been having a blast with Olive and Stacey messing about with jacking up the house, and various other fun projects.

I am off to the doctor this morning. Warning, in advance: Nothing new or interesting will be learned from this visit. All that will occur is a discussion of treatment to date, and where we shall send me. :)
a

Tom Tom and Bert

2009-07-31T01:13:00.002-05:00

Answering questions left in comments:

Tom Tom does not include time for restroom breaks or, most importantly, FOOD, Angie! However, I think he'll easily restart. because we all know I am not a girl who misses meals!

It was Frances who thought up Bert for a name. Realistically, no one knows a Bert in person except Shane, and the Bert he knew was a jealous fella. Other than Bert on Sesame Street that is. So, can we call this THING Bert, or is that just wrong? I kind of already think of it as Bert. Since it is part of my body at the moment, I am kind of not wishing a whole lot of ill upon it. Come on, picture Bert... you know you want to...Now isn't that a much nicer image than a scary old tumor?

I must, however refrain from calling it Bert in front of the general public and any healthcare professionals. Just in case anyone gets any funny ideas about my sanity.

The cat is completely unprepared for our trip tomorrow, but... all her stuff is ready to go. I wonder if she wonders why her litter box is by the door? She was completely able to find it, in fact, she gave me a bit of a funny look, like "What, too lazy to bring it all the way back in after you clean it?"

Since I don't seem to be able to sleep now, do you think that means I will be able to drive and drive and drive....?
a

Howdy!

2009-07-30T18:40:00.002-05:00

I decided at 4:37 in the morning that it was foolish to stay up all night to get ready to drive all day, so I decided to leave tomorrow morning. What a relief! Olive sent me a wonderful email about stress and it included setting priorities and also modifying them. This is a modification moment.

Packing is so much more fun when you have enough time. :) I have a cooler, snacks, and lots more to do, but I am relaxed and not stressed. Mac dropped me off a Tom Tom, which tells me I will be there 34 hours after I leave. I need a snack, then I am off to finish cleaning out the truck (good opportunity to vacuum it! And then put the stuff in, ready to go in the morning.

Yay! A good day!
a

The THING

2009-07-30T01:03:00.003-05:00

For anyone new to the topic, I have a THING. I promise to go back and fill in all the nitty gritty details, including all the interesting bits, but for now you get a brief recap and an update.

I had a body scan as part of a firefighter physical, and a mass was seen medial to the right kidney. A second, more detailed CT confirmed a baseball sized tumor (we prefer "mass") medial to the kidney, touching the duodenum and with slight mass effect on the inferior vena cava. Without the medical speak: Thingy in there. :)

My doc sent me to an oncologist - more on that later. Since I was unable to get an appointment, my doc sent me for an MRI. It was called in as a contrast CT - more on that later too. :) I managed to get a copy of the radiologist report (before my doc did, as usual) and....

THING has attached to the musculature near the spine. Not attached to the kidney or adrenal gland though! No adenopathy, no jacked up lymph nodes. (What!? The radiologist really said that! Ok, maybe not...) Considerations include schwanoma, paraganglioma, and sarcoma. We hate option 3, by the way, but the other two are nothing to pray for either. :)

So. if I were staying here, my doc would send me to a neurosurgeon to get that thing taken out. In fact, he said he would send me to one of the "Big Boys" at UT Southwestern in Dallas. I assume his use of the word "Big Boys" was not intended to infer that there are no adequate female neurosurgeons. *sigh*

I am happy about the neurosurgery thought because it seems to not involve an oncologist and therefore not involve the word "biopsy". We hate that word. (Unless otherwise specified, "we" refers to the cat and I. She generally has the same opinion as I do, whether it is because I feed her or because she genuinely agrees, I am not sure.)

We'll see what the docs in Canada think! I leave in the morning, pre-supposing of course, that I stop doing this and go pack. Might need clothes. Talk soon!
a

Grosgrain: Baggu GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-03-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

Grosgrain: Baggu GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cheese - I may never do #2 again...

2009-03-19T22:54:00.002-05:00

Dave Ramsey said to read the Cheese book again, so I went a few steps further, and did some Cheese Research.

iCheese

These are from the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Change Happens: They Keep Moving the Cheese
Anticipate Change: Get Ready for the Cheese to Move
Monitor Change: Smell the Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
Adapt to Change Quickly: The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
Change: Move with the Cheese
Enjoy Change!: Savor the Adventure and the Taste of New Cheese!
Be Ready to Quickly Change Again and Again: They Keep Moving the Cheese

These are some real-life cheese rules.

Never give your old cheese away in anticipation of finding new cheese.
Never turn down cheese offered to you, even if you already have too much.
Never turn down cheese offered to you just because you've never seen that kind before and have no idea what to do with it. When someone brings unfamiliar cheese to you, your response should be "I've done this many times."
Don't let anyone else know you've found some cheese.
Don't share your cheese.
Cheese can go away at any time without notice, hence #5.
Cheese can go bad at any time. When this happens, disregard #5 and go ahead and share your cheese. An added benefit of this is that it will appear as if you're finding cheese for others (Hey? isn't this what the managers are supposed to be doing?) and you'll be a hero.
Do not ask for tools (e.g. software, or a computer that is at least as fast as the secretary's) that will help you bring in new cheese.
Do not expect your head cheese (i.e. manager, but we wanted to use the word cheese as much as possible) to find you cheese. You are expected to find the cheese. (Just where did you think they get their overhead?)
If you let your head cheese find you some cheese, it will be out in the desert*, or maybe even out of state (remember - out of state, out of mind. Umm, actually I just made that up).
Be careful. Just because it looks like cheese and/or smells like cheese, it may not actually be cheese.¹ (This reminds us of the Cheech² and Chong³ dog story⁴. If you don't know who Cheech and Chong are then go to an antique store and try to find one of their records.⁵ Or you could look at their website. - editor)
If you run out of cheese you'll be assigned to do self-assessments until you learn not to run out of cheese.
The self-assessments will take all of your time so you will not be able to look for new cheese.
Did you ever think that maybe they keep moving the cheese because they don't want you to find it?

And finally,

Never cut the cheese (oh come on, you were thinking this yourself).

Other Cheese-Related Thoughts

Always activate your screen-saver when you walk away from your computer. This will prevent others from entering your office while you're out and discovering that you actually have cheese.
Remember, cheese spelled backwards is eseehc.

^*Okay. This is actually pretty specific, referring to a fictional business that is located near what is sometimes referred to as the desert. The point is no one really wants to go out there and if you don't find your own cheese they'll find you some so that you have to ride the bus 1½ hours each way, everyday, to your new job at this fictional business.
¹ Submitted by Ron S.⁹ (Ron is now on the list of people who can’t report this website.)
² Cheech Marin is on some show with Don Johnson, if anybody cares.⁸
³ Tommy Chong makes irregular appearances on That 70's Show.⁸
⁴ Okay. It goes something like this. "Looks like dog , smells like dog , feels like dog , tastes like dog , it must be dog . Good thing we didn't step in it." (Hey, come to think of it, this is exactly like some cheese I've come across.)
⁵ record (rêk’erd) n. a disc, usually made of vinyl, designed for playing on a phonograph⁶
⁶ phonograph (fo’ne-graf) n. An instrument that uses a vibrating needle to reproduce recorded sound from the grooves of a disc (i.e. a record). Commonly called a record player, (or turntable by an audiophile⁷).
⁷ audiophile (ô’dê-a-fïl) n. A person who calls a record player a turntable.
⁸ Cheech and Chong, neither of who (Or is it whom? Whom cares.) have provided any cheese-related quotes, both are still alive, and both make more money than you ever will.
⁹ Stewart

Baggu Grosgrain Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-03-13T05:10:00.000-05:00

Baggu Grosgrain Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

These are very cool reusable shopping bags!

heheheheeh

2009-03-04T00:55:00.001-06:00

Reading

2009-03-01T16:45:00.003-06:00

Well... I was reading Through a Glass Darkly, but it sucked, and it fell in the toilet. :) So after it dries out, it goes in the recycling. I just finished Maeve Binchy's Whitethorn Woods, so many characters, and she tied tham all together so well at the end, took care of everyone!

I just got Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager from Paperback Swap - woohoo! So I guess those will be next. I have been PBS, DVDS and CDSing everything lately, just to lighten my load to get ready to move. fun fun fun

2009-02-23T11:41:00.002-06:00

I was making a fun fruit bouquet for Tammie, since it's her birthday today, and I decided to do bananas in melted butterfingers bars.... sounds yummy, right? So I made them, and left them to cool...then when I went back into the kitchen, I started laughing so hard the cat had to come check on me. They looked like poo! Not just crappy looking, but real poo looking!

Crazy Pizza Dough Recipe

2009-02-21T12:38:00.000-06:00

Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe

Heidi notes: Peter's recipe says the olive (or vegetable oil) is optional. I use it every time - always olive oil, not vegetable oil. I love the moisture and suppleness it adds to the dough, and it makes your hands soft too.

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts.

from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed Press) - reprinted with permission

Our Australian Friends

2009-02-11T14:31:00.003-06:00

Volunteer Firefighters really DO, do it well. This picture is of a volunteer firefighter in Australia rescuing a koala.

Mega mega megamega Code

2009-02-04T23:06:00.002-06:00

See, this is what you get when you are the only paramedic in an ACLS class full of nurses, and your instructors are paramedics. My patient walked in the station for a BP check, and died. He was in v-tach, went to v-fib, I converted him and hung a lidocaine drip, he went into PEA, had a medic alert bracelet that said DNR, no wait that was dia and there is a shunt, no wait that was diab...he was the most messed up patient evah! LOL. By the end we were all just thinking of things that could go wrong with this poor guy! And of course, I had to treat them all. He actually became diabetic because I couldn't remember what possible treatment I might have in my bag of tricks for a PEA dialysis patient. Score! LOL!

Now I have to look that up. :)

I passed, now I have a current CPR card and a current ACLS card again *phew!*. I need my criminal background check for Canada, and I need Dr. Ansohn to sign off for the US, and then I should be able to send everything off to both countries. I hope to get that done Friday - because I still feel poopy and want to rest tomorrow. In fact, I stopped at Wal-Mart for Nyquil/Dayquil and lotion tissues on my way to class, and have some Nyquil on board as we speak. Nice warm sleep.... yes....

I still can't taste anything, that makes eating so fun. But I was able to buy cheap hot chocolate at Wal-Mart, since I can't taste it anyways. My head is feeling rather...shall we say...cottony. Ready for bed.

Oh yeah

2009-02-03T15:32:00.002-06:00

I believe that if I have a barn for God to fill he will fill it. And no, this isn't a reference to the crap in my barn. But God will fill my cup, or my barrel, or my barn, I just have to believe that he has the blessings to fill whatever vessel of praise I have to offer. I am increasing my capacity to receive. The praises go up, and grace like rain falls down to overflow my capacity to receive. Hooyah!

ook

2009-02-03T15:26:00.001-06:00

I feel a little yucky, some kind of sinus thing. I took some kind of sinus decongestant, that has just upped my kleenex use so far. I am starting to look like that little kid on the commercial. Or Rudolph. Not cool. Off to do stuff, I swear.

YUP

2009-02-02T01:27:00.002-06:00

Fully functional cooktop. Fully functional! Woohoo!

I will be making french onion soup tomorrow. I am so excited, I may start tiling tonight. Yee-haw! I think I need to TAPE newspaper to the counter first. Just in case, you know.
a

And today we have...

2009-02-02T00:12:00.002-06:00

A working range hood.
A working wall oven.
Gas lines and electrical done to the cooktop.
Got the sink working last night.
It's almost like a real kitchen.
Only took two more visits to Lowe's and one more to Home Depot. I also have a working flashlight, soon to be two, and I picked up some more microfiber cloths. Pink, this time.

Ah, life is good.

2009-01-31T21:07:00.002-06:00

I have NOT been good about publishing to my blog lately. I have a lot of different foci in my life right now, and losing weight doesn't seem to be one of them! lol Oka, I haven't gained massive weight, but I have not really been using my time to my best advantage when it comes to that.

I have been focusing on the house and remodeling the kitchen, and I really haven't even been all that good with that. It seems to overwhelm me - in that I get to a stuck point and I have to go do something different. I have been working on two seemingly simple faucets for a week, for example. You don't even want to know how many trips to Home Depot and Lowe's I have been through! Tonight I actually got the HD guy to take a faucet similar to mine out of the box and connect a waterline to it, just to prove it could be done, LOL! So I bought new connections, since I already got a new faucet. If the tools aren't broken, the parts must be, right? This isn't rocket science. I have a fine brain. If someone else has successfully done this, I surely can figure it out. Just repeat that, over and over and over, and you'll have spent the last week with me. LOL.

In a good note, I managed to get $375 in faucets for $194 on ebay - and it would have been $174 but I didn't read the auction well enough and had to buy a single hole deckplate separately. Of course, the guy from Home Depot said if I had brought it to him, he could have called and got me one for free. Bummer! But I still saved mucho dollars.

I just had to get up because I smelled *gasp* fresh air. The front door was locked, and open. Not sure how I did that! But yes, I checked for boogeymen, and all is well. It must not have been shut all the way when I clicked the lock. Fooled it, I did the deadbolt too this time. I was outside cutting the diagonals in the tile earlier, wearing a garbage bag, of course, before I got too chilly. I am warmed up nicely now, and I have to get back to the faucet and the gas stove connection. I am looking forward to having a stove, oven and range hood! In fact, I bought the stuff to make lasagne because of it!

I have also been slowly and limpingly cleaning out the scrapbook room, fun. It really sucks because I know I am going to have to seriously cut down on the amount of "stuff" in order to move it. For now, I am getting rid of the obvious, putting it in the closet in the spare room for a yard sale. I may start trying to ebay some things, I ordered a new camera with my $75 Dell coupon to remove that excuse. Off to check twopeas before I get back to work...

Barefoot Running - A Cautionalry Tale

2008-03-26T21:41:00.003-05:00

See that littel ducky foot to the right? That's barefoot running, baby. Sit down for this one.

So, in the spirit of being a better me... I was going to go for a walk today. I went to the track on Monday, and came to the conclusion that I should do that every day. So, true to form, here I am, two days later, getting back to it.

Also, at the track, I had come to the secondary conclusion that my right foot is actually longer than my left foot. There is a sticky outy spot on my heel (maybe a bone spur? I could be an honest-to-goodness cowgirl, I am in Texas.) and it rubs against the back of my sneaker. It rubs a hole in either my skin, or the sneaker, it just takes time.

Flashback a few months: During one of my ...*ahem* restroom reading moments, I read an article in Experience Life magazine about Barefoot running. Now it deserves to be said that Experience Life is a magazine that was sent by my trendy gym. My trendy, environmentally conscious, globally aware, and extremely expensive gym.

As an aside, that was the most money I ever spent, per month, for a gym, but it really delivered. Not only did I purchase guilt for not going to the gym, it came with a side dish of guilt for not saving the earth, not eating only organically grown vegetables from my back yard, not spinning local grasses to make my clothes, AND it sent me a magazine every month to remind me of my inadequacies, just in case the big old ding to my credit card every month wasn't enough. Of course, now I go to a much cheaper gym, a third of the price. I am , however, really not getting as much for the money. The little plastic tag on my key ring to let me in the door - well theoretically, anyways - doesn't even remotely make me guilty, although there are small pangs when I see the credit card statement each month.

So I guess where I was going with that is - a magazine that promotes mountain climbing (in your very own city - just scale buildings) and pole walking (you carry poles, seriously. Who thought THAT was a good idea?) also brought me the idea of barefoot running. Oh, it sounds so nice. You use all these different foot muscles that your sneaker normally hides. Your stride changes, and instead of being a heel walker, you land more softly on the ball of your foot, you even return to the childlike fun of play. I even looked at the little sneakers they make for barefoot running. There they are, right up there. Yep, sneakers. You can pay $80 for sneakers to make you think you are walking barefoot. UH....I think I might notice the $80 bucks - even if I could be convinced that I was barefoot with these funky puppies on my feet. I mean look at them! If I put those in the closet, all of the gloves will kick their asses over turf wars! The other sneakers will pick on them! The sandals - well, let's not even go there.

So. Combine these things: I want to go for a walk. My right heel hurts. I read an article in a magazine some months ago, and did a minor amount of research. The conclusion is obvious and ...well... kind of sad. More research might have shown me this quote:
" "Barefoot running isn't for sissies," says Jonathan Summers, a 37-year-old Boston horticulturist who took up the regimen this summer after seeing a couple of unshod runners pass him by at a local 10K race. "It's like running on sandpaper." ..." or even this one..."Nowadays he limps to a halt after eight miles because his bare feet heat up and blister. Since commencing barefoot training through the streets and hills of San Diego 18 months ago, he's consulted an acupuncturist for pain relief. A sports-injury specialist taught him to remove deeply embedded thorns from his feet with a box cutter. Mr. Yoshino says he'll need to lance another 100 blisters before achieving his dream -- an outer crust on his feet as hard as that of some Australian aborigines. "It's no picnic," he says..."

Oh, this ranks right up there in stupidity with my decision to get married in the Bahamas. So, I start out in my Stupid Boston Vacation Sandals. Now, my SBVS are a story all of their own. Lets just say for now they are size 5.5 and I am a 7.5 or 8. And that my toes, especially the little guy that had none? You know, right next to the one that cried wee wee wee all the way home? My toes hate the SBVS. But they are so CUTE! Ate right up with dumbass, I have gotta tell you!

So I head out for my walk, doing the usual brain equations, reminding myself I only have to walk for fifteen minutes, then I can turn around and go home, that is only four songs on the ipod, about two miles, oh look, this song is 3.25 minutes, this one is (why do they do that to me - does my Math brain need to be encouraged to add???) Meanwhile, the feet, in the SBVS are okay, but feeling a little peaked. But the road is a little rough, and there are other people - driving by, you know. So on minute 22, I am feeling a little pain, but - I just walked DOWN a huge hill. So I notice that I am almost at the highway - oh, cool, I'll just walk around the "block". OOH, if there were moments in time you could go back and change....

By minute 28, I realize it is time to start the barefoot session, because I cannot walk one more step in the SBVS. As I slide off the SBVS, my toes give a little sigh of relief. Have I ever mentioned that there is not one human being in Texas who is barefoot, ever? Other than the fireants, which would make any sane human rethink the theory, there are something called stickers. They are like the tiny spiky bones of some mammalian creature from hell. And, they really do stick. So there is no opportunity to take my hot feet off the hard asphalt and onto the cool soft grass - because there really isn't any. Sand burrs, cockles, and the general road trash make that impossible. After about four minutes more, I realize I am in trouble. Barefoot - hurts. SBVS - not going back on the feet too well. And I am past the halfway point - or so I think.

New muscles - found them all. Landing softly on the balls of your feet? Well, that works too, but I think the body does that as a defense mechanism to fool whatever sharp object might be down there.

Apparently, in a fairly affluent area in Texas, a woman walking with her shoes in her hands appears to need help. On minute 72, a biker - the Lance Armstrong kind, in spandex and about 85 years old - he must read Experience Life magazine - stopped to see if I was okay, limping along, sandals in hand, toes bloody, but with my bright smile plastered on my face (remember the childlike fun of play part? I tried.). He asked if I was okay - and then if I was almost home - and mercifully, by then I was. Would he have offered me a ride on his handlebars? I might have accepted! Oh, but wait, I remember Mom's advice. Never ride your bike barefoot. Hmmmm.
Mom Should write for Experience Life Magazine.

Angie is living healthy!

2008-01-21T14:43:00.000-06:00

Well, my darling sister Angie started a blog to track her healthy eating and flying, and I want to try to keep up! Maybe I can create some accountability for myself! Don't even ask what I ate for lunch today!

We are doing the Biggest Loser challenge at work, and I only lost two pounds in the first week. I haven't been particularly careful this week, so I am not sure what Wednesday will bring. I am easing my way back towards my 6WBMO diet, but I am not quite getting there. First there was the carton of milk I wanted to finish, since there is no milk on this diet, then there was the soup and salad for lunch two days this week - the salad is fine, but the diet is no sodium, so the soup needs to be made by me if I want it. Maybe I can make some soup this week to make me happy! It has been chilly this week!

I did some cooking ahead last Sunday so I could get started, and I have food in the fridge that is diet friendly. In fact, there was a great sale on grapefruit, so I stocked up. I may even go to get more before the sale ends. 8WBMO makeover has you eat every two to three hours, so you are always full. The problem with that is food prep - If you don't make it ahead of time it is very difficult to drop what you are doing (especially at work) and go make something. I did very well for a while by getting up first thing each day and cooking my morning and afternoon chicken portions in the little George Foreman grill while I got ready for work. I have been sliding, though! I am also not being very strict about writing down what I eat, so that doesn't make it easy either - or rather, it makes it TOO easy to cheat. Lots of things to work on this week! I think the first behaviour I will try to change is writing down what I eat. That helps me eat better, for sure. And soon - I will have to exercise!

Stink EYe

2007-11-07T01:48:00.000-06:00

I got the stink eye, pink eye, just call me the Queen of Conjnctivitis. Who else has to keep pink eye drops in their nightstand?
'
So there I am standing at the front counter, looking at Codi's wierd foot petechiae issue, and all is normal. (Well, other than her feet.) I go back to my office, grab my big pile of files and my barrette and cup. I set down my stuff in the council chambers, and am shamelessly flirted with by a very early citizen. I take my styrofoam-decorated-with-lipstick coffee cup to the kitchen, and head to the restroom to fix my hair. Then back to the kitchen where I make a cup of coffee and make a new pot for our guests. I head to the hallway and Codi says - "What's wrong with your eye? You have pink eye!" ANd, of course, I do. Oh, I denied it, I said I must have scratched it, but the weeping has started and the itching, and golly gee whiz, here I am again.

Devil eye, red eye, pink eye, conjunctivitis...don't care what you call it, it is StInK EyE to ME!
UUUUUGH!

Just a day like today

2007-11-03T22:13:00.000-05:00

Newsflash, ion detecting smoke detectors are proving not to be as quick or effective as photoelectric ones, so look up your models on the net and see what kind you have. Although the jury is still out, I have read enough to think photoelectric sensors are the better idea.

My friend Melanie dropped in today to help get my butt in gear, and we got lots done! The rented guys redid all the flower beds, got rid of a huge pile of wood that was leaning up against my foundation on the side of the house (for six years or so) just waiting for termites, got rid of lots of weeds and assorted other debris, and generally made the outside, around the house, neat and clean and rather lovely. All that's left is to sweep off the porch. They also killed a small copperhead and a bunch of ants. And felt the need to call me outside to see the copperhead. I used my strong command of the Spanish language and said "Is it muerte?"

When a friend stopped by to see who was here (seeing Melanie's truck made the natives curious), he said - "hey, that looks almost as nice as it used to look when you used to sit out there." I had a friend who has moved, but he would stop by after work for a beer every now and then, and we would sit on the porch and watch the trains go by. We called it the WT porch, for "white trash", because it seemed like such a country bumpkin thing to do. I guess I paid more attention when I was using it more. That was enlightening, to sat the least, I didn't realize how much I had let it go until I saw it looking good. So, $135 for plants and mulch, $200 for labor, and the enlightenment, priceless!

Melanie was a godsend, while I finished the ceiling she kept telling me that at a height of 11 feet, "perfect" is measured from the ground, not the ladder. She made me promise that when I got off the ladder today it would be done, even if not "perfect", and talked me into hiring the guys again tomorrow to paint it. Great idea! Another $200, plus $92 for tinted primer (I'll forgo the paint, since it won't get any handling) and some new brushes and rollers, and the job will be done tomorrow.

She also cleaned and vacuumed every surface in the large room, and kept asking me enlightening questions, like... "these cute little plant-pot-sitters in fifteen pieces that look like they have already been glued back together at least once - you are keeping these why?" and "Do you have any idea what these keys are to? Do you even own that truck anymore?" And the best one - "You have been using a Treo phone for the last three years, you're keeping this old one why?" when I responded that I had plugged the old phone in when I bought the new one home, and had intended to transfer the numbers, she said - "You think in three years if you had needed a number you might have found it by now? And besides, there is no battery, so although you have faithfully had it plugged it in for three years, it won't ever charge or turn on." WOW! This woman is Good!

It really made me think about what I do, and why. A lot of times I save things becase they are "good", or "can be fixed" but they don't fit the needs I have now, or the time I have available for the fixing. Mel was talking about her Mom, who saves, washes, and reuses ziplock bags and tinfoil, which I agree with in principle (as does she), but neither of us do it. She says when her mom is at her house she washes the bags and sets them out to dry. And Melanie throws them away! Her mom says she didn't raise her to be so wasteful, and Melanie guiltily admitted that when she throws a ziplock away after it only had cookies in it, she thinks "There, I made it, I am successful, I don't have to wash this bag!" Which, aside from being hilarious, really strikes home for me. I don't have to reupholster that yard sale chair, I still may (although I have three to do right now - which feels overwhelming) but I can go buy a chair in a color and style I like, and life will not end.

I do believe in reducing, reusing and recycling, but I also need to start to believe in my power to take care of myself and my worth, I am "worth" a new chair if that is what I decide I want. And, I may just stop by the furniture store this week and take a look see! Self esteem is an amazing thing.

Other news? I have not lost a pound this week - losing weight takes focus, and I have been focusing on my house. However, I haven't gained, so that is a success in itself.

The Community Thanksgiving dinner (that and other eating out events have helped make this a bad weight week - a Reese cup here, a hotdog there) was a rousing success, I was touched by the service photos of some of our older community members, including a handsome twenty-something Mike Harral Sr., posing with his M-60. What a great man he is. True courage and bravery, a man of God, and a friend to all.

Here's a few prayers for some friends in need tonight, a heart in need of healing, a life in turmoil, and some people who need to blog about others in a negative way to accomplish their political goals. May God bless them, and touch them, and help them to see the joy of his love and the compassion and caring he has in their times of strife and discomfort as well as in their times of plenty. And may many more times of plenty be available for them.
That's it for today!

2007-11-03T00:24:00.000-05:00

Before Sunday at bedtime I will:
Finish the skimcoating of the ceilings
Paint the ceilings
Touch up the red paint I just messed up with primer
Touch up the brown paint (see above)
Touch up the beige paint that the primer was supposedto fix (see any circles here?)
Cut windowsills and trim for six windows
Install, caulk and paint the windowsills
Put up four new blinds
Repaint the light cover for the bedroom
Put up the light cover in the bedroom
Install sun reflective coating on the french doors
Buy a new doorknob for the french doors
Install it
Replace the lights in the kitchen after painting
Replace the lightbulbs in the closets
Fix three plugins, (replace two that got painted red,and fix one whose box is broken in the wall)
Move all the crap I can out to the barn
Somehow come up with amazing furniture for the ugly naked rooms
Move the big TV to the workout room and replace it with the smaller TV
Clean the woodstove
Clean out the grout in the bathroom to regrout it
Finish the trim in the bathroom and paint it
Clean the drywall mud off the floor
Repaint the floorBuy some plants and mulch for the flowerbeds
Deweed the flower beds
Kill the weeds in the driveway
Mow and weedeat
Have a minor meltdown

Oh what a beautiful day

2007-11-02T17:04:00.000-05:00

So much to do, so little impetus to get off my butt! Actually, I have impetus, just because of the so much to do. First, unload all of the stuff from Home Depot out of the car. Then, some ceiling work and a few small painting jobs and some trim work (really wished I had a nice long extension cord that had NOT been run over by a lawnmower!) and then another trip to Home Depot to get some mulch and nice plants, Pedro's friends are coming over tomorrow to do some lawn work for me. Finally, with a little luck, I'll get a nice fall cleanup of the flower beds and all the areas that need weedeating. There is nothing better than a little help, even at $10 an hour and with marginal english skills. Hey - maybe I can make a list in english, and then translate it into Spanish on the web! WHatta concept! Widh me luck!

2007-10-31T21:38:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well, as you can tell, I was a cat! I really thought this would suck, but I enjoyed the day, and the evening, and really liked being a kitty. There was a cute little girl dressed up like a ladybug who came over and gave me a hug, quite randomly. That's what life is made of.

I have decided that I need to reprogram the thermostat to make the heat come on at six and go off at 8 in the mornings - this 5:30 to seven thing just isn't working for me. I wish it weren't so difficult to mess with. Time is just flying by, and my Bunco was moved up to the tenth, I thought it would be the 17th. Bummer! I must get ready...have to call Mac for the carpet guys nmber, have to clean up, have to get furniture, have to stop freaking out...ten days to d-day...

LOL

ARG! Animated Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Cartoons

2007-10-31T10:18:00.000-05:00

ARG! Animated Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Cartoons

Here I am!

2007-10-27T11:59:00.000-05:00

What a summer!

I have so much to report - I have lost 20 pounds, and the weather is getting cooler for Fall. The impetus for this weight loss? New uniforms at the fire station, mine were ordered as men's size 44 shirt and size 40 pants! SCARY! Those size 40's will fall down without a belt now, LOL! I need to be doing a little sewing.

So what's on the agenda for today? A little housework - laundry, washing windows, and a little ceiling skimcoating (getting to where I can see the end of that project!) and some errands. I found a beautiful fabric at the local resale shop for $2 a yard, bought a yard and brought it home, and it is perfect for the bedroom! I am off to pick up much much more of it - enough to reupholster a chair, the windowseat, and make a comforter cover for the bed. I will post pictures later - yes, I promise I will find my camera and actually use it. I also have to run to Party City and find something for a Halloween costume - how does a 35 year old woman get herself involved in something requiring her to dress up? I am leaning towards a cat, a black cat. Why? Because all of the women at work are being witches! The witches of Argyle, in fact.

At 4 pm I have to be at Cross Timbers in the fire truck for the Fall Festival, and then afterwards I have Bunco at Tammie O's. So my costumes du jour are Firefighter and middle aged frumpy wanna be chiclet. LOL! Mel is coming over tomorrow to return my saw, so I also have big plans to sweep the porch. The geckos will need to find another home for the week. Scary little buggers!

Ah, life, so fun, so fancy.
Ande

Stars

2007-04-16T23:42:00.000-05:00

I love this card! I made it for the stars challenge at Caardvarks (not an easy word to spell)! Check them out here: http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Thinking back....and Poison Ivy

2007-04-12T01:33:00.000-05:00

I've definitely been looking back this past week. Made this LO about Ashley, remembering the good times. SO many things going on in my life right now, but yet, nothing is happening. Strange, huh?

Mowed the lawn today, but first I transplanted a bunch of wild violets, because I couln't stand the idea of mowing them down. I allowed the "grass" to grow to tall, and the chickweed has really gotten high - the mower wsa not amused. All went well though, and the worst thing that happened was me running out if gas. SCORE! I had some in the barn...that was probably a buck less a gallon when I bought it last year.

I have the most amazing amount of poison ivy on my property. It is in the obvious spot on the side of the barn, but also on the back and other side, and in the treeline on the school side of the property. I am going to have to hire Pedro's friends and get this crap outta here! I am worried about that, even if they are not sensitive, they will get it on them and then they have to get back into my vehicle. Plus, it has to be bagged, because it can't go in the burn pile. And then what do I do with the bags? I guess I could chuck out one or two a week in my household garbage can, because I sure wouldn't survive a trip to the landfill with it in the same vehicle.

The steroids are working, and the rash hasn't progressed any further since yesterday. I am SO glad I went to the doctor yesterday! My butt still hurts from the shot. :)

I post, I post

2007-04-02T14:21:00.001-05:00

I post, I post...

Well...not often. Nothing new here today, a little housecleaning, a little scrapbooking, some Cadbury mini-eggs and a lot of loving life. I am planning to spend Easter weekend helping my girlfriend fix up the new closet we created for her in January out of part of her bathroom. Now doesn't that sound fun? We have drywall to finish, shelves to install and some trim in the kitchen that needs doing. I love working on other people's home improvement projects, so much more fun than my own! Here's a picture for today... It is my beautiful niece Laureen and her boyfriend Kyle. Could they BE any cuter?

I post, I post

2007-04-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

I post, I post...

FIIIIIIIIRE!

2007-03-10T01:03:00.000-06:00

I just fought an awesome fire, doodah, doodah
I just fought an awesome fire, all the doodah night.

THAT is why I do this.

Call came out as a structure, further was that the house next door to ____ was on fire. Always an indicator of a real fire - called in by the neighbor. I went POV and got there right after the engine. You could see it from a mile away. Charlie and a guy (who turned out to be Jeff, who was a the station studying) were attacking from the east side. I parked on the neighbors lawn (sorry) and geared up. I surveyed from the east and pulled a second crosslay off the truck, with Brandon's help, thank goodness. Charlie put me in the doorway as a fire break between the front of the trailer, which was fully engulfed, and the kitchen window they were shooting through. Charlie was funny taking the door out - trailer doors always open outward, but this was burning, so he hit it inward and it buckled. He hit it a second time and then had to shake the door off his axe. One of those scenes that you freeze in your mind to laugh at later. We had the kitchen dark and I was pushing the fire back out the front...when we ran out of water.

Roanoke hooked up to us, but Brandon had left our lines charged, and when the water hit the pump, their 80 psi and our original 120 psi knocked Jeff and I both on our butts. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't hold my line, (I didn't realize that the same thing had happened to Jeff) and it spun me and was shoving me back down the stairs and I was fighting it to hang on and shut it down...I got it off just as a Double Oak guy tried to come to my rescue. Being a big macho man, he walked up the steps and turned it on full bore - and got knocked on his butt, whereupon he fell through the porch. I suppose I could have helped him up, but catching the hose seemed more important at the time. And I felt extremely justified, although still a little pissed off. :) The fire had got it's hold back by then, but we jacked it back down and actually saved half of the trailer.

I fought a good fight, was on nozzle with no back the entire time except when I gave the nozzle to Roanoke who were going in (Idiotic - there are no floors left in trailer fires.) They didn't even get in there when Jon came and yanked their butts back out. Jeff's Double Oak team had already pulled out. I shot it through the kitchen window while Jeff had the window on the southern room. I don't know who taught Double Oak how to withdraw, but they ran like scared kittens and Jeff and I had to pull his hose back out through the window. After the worst of it was out, I went for an axe and pulled the crap out of the walls to get at the insulation (from the outside, I'm not dumb.) I was proud of my stamina, only once did I feel like I was going to have to give up my nozzle, but I kept it. I think I may have a bruise from letting the handle push back against my shoulder, but I did good.

Charlie came and told Jeff and I we stopped that fire, and he was proud of us. We went on knees after we suppressed it, and Jeromy brought us in water. I said we loved him, and he bonked my helmet. Probably the most positive interaction we have ever had. Brandon gave me fists and said good job. When we were overhauling Charlie was knocking the heck out of a kitchen cupboard, and Guy and I had the line (He was backing me, and it was awesome! You forget how great it is to have a good backer until you work without one for a while!) Anyways, Charlie was spewing some crap and we were getting sprayed, but I thought it was water, then Guy goes..."Aunt Jemina!" Happy homeowner apparently had syrup in the cabinet Charlie was demolishing, and it was all over us. The funny part? Some wierd sticky goo from a burning building sprayed all over us...and Guy *tasted* it! He was hilarious. Later, he said - "Geez, what if that had been caustic?" Duh, now you think of that! I got some burning goo on my face from the AC unit earler and it freaked me out, I wet gloved it real quick and it didn't even leave a mark. I am reinstalling my shield on my helmet, those goggles *suck*.

Anyways, it is 1:34 am, and I cannot go to bed this stinky, so I am off to the shower. But...

I fought an awsome fight today, doodah, doodah
I fought an awesome fight today, and won in every way!

I am definitely a genius

2007-03-08T19:58:00.000-06:00

A genius is one who can do anything except make a living. - Joey Adams

There was never a genius without a tincture of madness. - Aristotle

Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. - Isaac Asimov

Men of genius are the worst possible role models for men of talent. - Murray D. Edwards

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does not know what to do with genius. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Silly thing about life

2007-03-08T19:28:00.000-06:00

found this list of things on Chris Jenkin’s Blog… “… the idea is to highlight the things you've done. I don't know if it serves the purpose of showing how crazy or wayward I've been or that i need to get out more. who knows?
this little experiment is supposed to be fun.
i think…”
Here goes (i've done everything in bold):
1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins (do stingrays count?)
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula YES! Finally, one I did! I didn’t want to, Ashley sort of dropped it in my hand when we were at the butterfly gardens and I was trying to be brave… but I was scared and half laughing and tears were falling out of my eyes…the guy gave both of us stickers that said “I held Edna” or whatever that thing’s name was. I was kind of proud of that sticker.
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone This is a good memory.
8. Said “I love you” and meant it
9. Hugged a tree I even had a favorite tree when I was growing up…I carved my name in it, with some boy’s initials that I would change periodically. You know.
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris – I am so going to take Mom one day.
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea With all my time in the Bahamas, probably, but I don’t really remember anything except getting cold and wet in the boat.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise Yup, never for the romantic reason this sounds like, though, more like working all night at Tim Horton’s.
14. Seen the Northern Lights Being from Canada, this was a given. I remember Mom pointing them out as we were leaving Beaver Harbour.
15. Gone to a huge sports game – the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. I prefer the hockey.
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables – Absolutely! I still try to grow tomatoes, but the heat and my neglect of watering makes it tough…
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars - Many times, I think.
20. Changed a baby’s diapers - rarely. Not my job. I’d be happy to, though.
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower – Yes, laying on the sand at Old Orchard beach waxing poetic…
23. Gotten drunk on champagne – probably, since a glass would get me drunk
24. Given more than you can afford to charity – I wish I could say yes
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment YES!
27. Had a food fight – more than one, in fact.
28. Bet on a winning horse – Yup, I think I won $4
29. Asked out a stranger - oh heck no
30. Had a snowball fight YES! Many!
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can Yup, and I just did it again for good measure, the cats are quite worried.
32. Held a lamb – I don’t think so. Pete raised some but I don’t recall touching them.
33. Seen a total eclipse - Not that I recall, you’re not supposed to look, right?
34. Ridden a roller coaster – yeah, the Texas Star, awful wooden clanky thing that made my back hurt, and then the Superman Tower of Power and BatMan’ s Ice thing or something – they make me wanna hurl
35. Hit a home run – Not in this lifetime
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking - Probably when I was drunk in university
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day Maybe not the whole day, grin
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment YES! But not at the moment.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer – Do Zip drives count?
40. Visited all 50 states – I think so. California was my last one, I think.
41. Taken care of someone who was heavily inebriated – see the earlier college dancing answer
42. Had an amazing friend (and lost her) – Whatever happened to Sonja?
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country – In the Bahamas
44. Watched wild whales Off Vancouver Island, when we were in atiny boat fishing. A little scary, but cool.
45. Stolen a sign - Sorry, Mom.
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip – Oh so many – but very few just for the joy of a road trip… I think I need to do that, and soon!
48. Gone rock climbing – At the gym
49. Midnight walk on the beach - At Old Orchard, In Florida on Spring Break, and in the Bahamas
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love – I can’t make a call on this one. Or, I won’t.
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow – I am sure I did, not regularly, though.
56. Alphabetized your CDs - Well, I only have eight, so probably not.
57. Pretended to be a superhero – Every Day, Baby.
58. Sung karaoke – Badly, I might add.
59. Lounged around in bed all day – Sometimes because that was all I could do.
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving And I loved it
62. Kissed in the rain - I would love to, though…
63. Played in the mud – YES! Made mudcakes often.
64. Played in the rain – Of course, loved it, still do
65. Gone to a drive-in theater - We saw the cats cartoon and the Apple Dumpling Gang with Mom and Dad, I fell asleep at the Apple Dumpling Gang. John took Char and I to see Mad Max, Beyond the Thunder Dome.
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business Gotta say yes.
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married – a couple times so far.
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
76. Gone without food for 5 days - I wish
77. Made cookies from scratch – Yup, thanks Mom.
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason for myself.
84. Performed on stage Many times as a youngster, loved it
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music – Does Here Comes Peter Cottontail on CBC TV when I was a kid count?
87. Eaten shark Ugh, yes.
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand Again, Sorry Mom.
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house – Yes, a blessing and a curse
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents – Daddy, and I miss him
94. Been on a cruise ship – Yup, took Mom on one. It was a little wild for me.
95. Spoken more than one language fluently – Oui.
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children – For a short time
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over – Hello? A couple times.
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge - Yes, last summer…then I drove back from California in a company vehicle.
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking – All the time, it’s my car, dimmit!
103. Had plastic surgery - Twice
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived - Driving under that truck
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds If you count them five at a time, I have lost thousands
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray YUP! Before the Steve Irwin experience
110. Broken someone’s heart – probably. I hate that.
111. Ridden a bike – Yup, definitely. I was Daisy Duke.
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol - I love my FNC1A1
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild118. Ridden a horse – twice that I remember, once in Georgia and once at Texas Lil’s Dude Ranch.
119. Had surgery – three times
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours I am certain!
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states – Some day
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days – Wilderness Survival in my teens
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi nasty crap
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about loving me
130. Gone back to school – 19 years in a row
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes - Of course!
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey – made me sleepy so I gave up
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read – the Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but I didn't finish it
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - I tried, I really did
137. Skipped all your school reunions - Me, me, me!
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language – unless you consider smiling a language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you 145. Had a booth at a street fair 146. Dyed your hair - One BAD experience
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life - I don’t think so. I’ve been there for it, though.

I don't think I can assess whether or not I have lived my life based on that list.

It's Saturday night and I ain't got nobody....

2007-02-17T14:12:00.000-06:00

Actually, it's Saturday afternoon, and the cats and I are supposed to be housecleaning. Those buggers are off sleeping somewhere, so I have been pea'ing and playing with my blogger. I have a bunch of stuff to take out to the barn (I am banishing all the tools and flowerpots back to their rightful places in the barn again) and it is actually warm enough to make the trek back and forth, so I can't use that as an excuse. But all I want to do is play in my scrapbook room!

And it has to be cleaned. UGH. If my family didn't visit once or twice a year I would probably never straighten up, so for this I am grateful. I need to get my carpets stretched, but I really don't want to pay the $200. It just galls me to have to pay that kind of $$ for something so simple...but I just don't want to do it. I have until tomorrow night to get it done, ot I am going to call the guy. SO THERE! :) I guess I told me.

OK, I promise I'll go do something soon, just one more can of diet coke first...
:)
a

Yahoo! Mail - moshera@yahoo.com

2007-02-14T14:45:00.000-06:00

This is a set of layouts I did for a circle journal, It was entitled "Amazing Hero".

Can women get along at work?

2007-02-08T22:01:00.000-06:00

This has always been a huge thing for me, as a woman in construction. Women in my field tend to be tough, no-nonsense people who are used to getting things their own way, they have fought to get where they are and they'll fight you if you cross them. But, I guess I am that way also!

My troubles with women at work have always been with women in supporting roles, it is normal for more than one project manager (me) to share a project coordinator (all women in my experiences). Just today one of my PC's was telling me that she spends nine hours a day on "Tom", another PM, and one hour a day on me. I have walked into her cube when she was doing stuff for him that I would never dream of asking her to do, from financials to warranty calls. Does that bother me? A little. But, I am the only female PM at this firm, and I am also the only one in a cubicle like the PC's instead of an office. That bothers me more!

The Director's assistant does all of the "guys" expense reports - and yet when I asked her to download my AMEX bill (when she was doing another PM's) she told me she'd be happy to show me how. It is almost like I am more capable in their minds so they expect me to do my own. That's good in a way - but I have oodles of other things I need to be doing that I can't delegate.

But I digress. I worked with a woman at one firm who is still an awesome friend to this day, she is also a PM, but she has an accounting degree. While I am functional in accounting, I am an engineer, and I excel at negotiating scopes with no gaps. She has less experince with that, so we would trade off tasks - I would review her scopes and negotiate her contracts, and she would process my invoices. It was a dream team. I'll admit I was scared of her at first, though. She left the firm to go to a larger developer, since there were some pretty major management issues at our firm, and I left not long after.

She is a shining example of a good PM and a good woman. I think people are who they are, and that comes out in their work. If you stand back and listen to the personal stories in the lunchroom, the same people with the huge family dramas have the huge work dramas. One of the ladies at work has not spoken to another one of the ladies at work for two weeks, because lady A bought at $179 labelmaker and lady B thought it ws too expensive but the boss approved it. What's up with that? I refer to them in my mind now as "Supply Cabinet Nazi" and "Labelgirl". :P When one person complains about another person in front of me, I usually just look at them intently and say "Where's the love?" I don't know if it makes them think, but they tend not to include me in much of that anymore, Thank goodness.

I think work is the hardest thing I have ever had to do...and I don't mean the job description part of it. Knowing how to manage others (Below and above me) takes a lot of study, and a lot of work. One thing Maite was talking about with the "I worked 80 hours a week so you should have to" - that attitude is very prevalent in my work. There are people who let their physical and mental health and their families fall apart. I say, if you can't do it in 40 hours (ok, sometimes 50!), you are doing something wrong. I thank God for the women that worked 80 hour weeks and proved themself in the industry, and now I am taking it a step further for the next generation. We need to work smarter, and give our employer our best - and then go home! Save a little of the best for tomorrow, too! It is easy to confuse long hours with productivity, and I try not to fall into that trap.

Life balance is more important, and when push comes to shove, ain't none of those people gonna be standing over my casket spilling any tears. God, Me, Family, Work. If I don't take care of things in that order, I won't be able to take care of anything. And if you made it all the way to the end of this long and boring post, you deserve a RAK. :)
Ande

mo' as in motivation

2007-02-03T13:58:00.000-06:00

Let's talk motivation. Of which I tend to have none.

Wikipedia says "...In psychology, motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior (Geen, 1995). Motivation is a temporal and dynamic state that should not be confused with personality or emotion. Motivation is having the desire and willingness to do something..."

Desire and willingness. Well, I have those, right? But then it goes on to talk about self contril, and organization. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I think I'll just get up off my butt and see what I can get done by wandering around aimlessly! LOL

Have a fun day today, I am going to!
a

I am so proud of ME

2007-01-28T22:46:00.000-06:00

This is where I throw out the stupid comment that I made and forgive myself, move on. Just move on!

I did good today! I got home and started by unloading and reloading the dishwasher, sweeping up the pile of crap on the floor, picking up all the stuff in the house and vacuuming, picking up all the laundry (last load is IN!) washing sheets, doing the cat litter (ugh - can they just pee once a week from now on?), emptying all the garbage in the house, taking it out and throwing away the ESD signs from November6th (yes, I said Nov 6th!), picking the diet coke cans out of the flower beds, and then cleaning off all of my most used surfaces - the side tables in the living room, my bedside stand and my couch basket. Then I went to dinner, and came home and made the bed and rebooted laundry. And, now, I am sitting here, in a little funk, and trying to remind myself of all the good things I did. I believe in myself.

I believe in my ability to be a little better everyday. To take care of myself and my home and my world, and to give love. My Mom loves me. My sisters and brothers love me. Mac loves me. Life is good, I just need to focus on the good parts. I am strong, and capable, and I can do this. This life thing.

An Evenong with Me

2007-01-27T23:49:00.000-06:00

I have spent a relaxing evening listening to DIY, doing a little scrapbooking and watching the cats run by. Got a call for a grass fire, it was suppressed by the brush truck guys by the time I got there. M is working on the Elrod's, so he has been gone all day, wierd day at the station without him. Driver operator class was as expected, a little disorganized, a lot boring. It was a good day with the boys, though, everyone was in fine spirits and goofing.

I did an excellent LO for HOF! I used the shark tank picture, that phenomenal one with the shark turning and the slide in the background. I intend to work on a few more this weekend, hopefully we'll get out early tomorrow and M will understand that I just want to scrap. (Yeah, right.) Let's see, I have one layout done, one partly done, one planned and one that needs some serious putting together. That is 4 out of ten. Ugh. I still have to do my monochromatic LO and my journaling and something

....sidebar - listening to the radio while drinking hot chocolate can be nasty - "subject has vomited and is having diarrhea" is not what you want to hear when looking into the murky depths of the cocoa cup....

anyways, and something with that gorgeous picture of Katie, something stunning. I want to hook up my printer so I can get ready for a couple of shots done with varied colors, like those ones of Mom with the colors that clash, redo them in gray-blue shades or something. My scanner is hooped, but I think I already have them digital. Still can't find the card with Mom and I's vacation on it. I need to back up my hard drive, by the way! I would hate to lose these pictures. Must get on that.

What day is February 10th? Let's see...if the 5th is Monday, the 10th must be Friday? No, I know it is Satuday because Tracy will be missing Driver-Operator class for Denton's test, and we only have D-O on weekends. That means I have all next weekend to scrap! WOOOOHOOOO! I can finish over the week and weekend and then send it out Monday or Tuesday, priority mail. YAH! There is still hope! No pressure, though. If I don't make it I don't make it. No big deal. The journey is part of the destination, right? Or whatever. No pressure. :)

Ok, I am feeling a little bit of pressure. I need to do a development schedule and a floorplan for the station by Wednesday night for the FD. Yugh. Too many cooks are spoiling that broth. Although, I probably won't have to go to El Paso this week now that Scott is there - thank goodness. But, I will have to work my asterisk off to get Beaumont done by Friday. I believe in me, I know I can do it. Life is ike this sometimes.

Anyways, I went in to turn on my binky and I guess I left it on all day. It is nice and warm already. Ooops. I must get to bed so I can get up in the morning.

The cats are Mad!

2007-01-20T10:37:00.000-06:00

So, a family of squirrels has moved into the attic. The pear tree, which has not yet given me a pear to eat, is now towering over the house. It's branches (along with the Cottonwoods (or garbagewoods, as the boys call them) allow the squirrels free rein to the roof. I have always looked on with benign neglect, which I will continue to do, since actually doing something about it would take too much effort. :) In the meantime, the cats hear all the noises in the attic and run around the house looking for a way up there. You know what? I may change my neglect theory and take some nuts out to the backyard and spread them around. They may as well be happy little home invaders. Maybe they won't eat my Romex if there is a good supply of peanuts for them.

I am getting ready to pack up for some cropping action this evening, looking forward to a little HOF work. Seems like I get more done when I am away from home, but the packing up is a pain. To be expected, I guess. Off to get at it!

Excitement

2007-01-14T02:47:00.000-06:00

I cropped tonight, finished 3 LO in Patrick's book, and put together one of the Prima Wood vase projects I was working on. My cropadile did not let me punch a hole in a bottlecap - the bottlecap wouldn't fit under it. :( I will have to think it through and come up with a plan B.

Big plans - I went to WalMart for cat food and litter, I am now going to clean up a little and focus on my Vases before I go to bed. Maybe start a load of darks and get some clean jeans going one in my world. M said JD invited him for a spaghetti dinner tomorrow night, and said I should expect an invite. I have been missing a lot of calls lately, I must start gettin' up for the late nighters. I bought an electric blanket at WalMart - $20. It is only twin sized, but I couldn't resist. If it is an icy day tomorrow I will snuggle in and have a good relaxing day. Why is it that I go to Wal-Mart to spend $30 and always leave having spent $100+? Yikes!

ML asked me to do a book for him today - he had emailed me and asked me where I had gotten the book and I sent him a link to the HSN kit. He said he had noticed a little difference between what I showed him onlne and what I made Patrick! Uh, yeah. :) He offered me $5. I told him I would make him one, but he had to wait a little while because I also had to do Mac's and mine. I may as just well start making multiple LO of the common stuff and do one for Phole, Gerry and JD as well. All my boys will ask for one sooner or later, if I know them. I think i will get them all to do their own 8 x 10 and 5 x 7's of their faves, that'll help me personalize it for them as well as scrap cheaper! SO much love to give, so little time.
a

So 35 is not looking good so far...

2007-01-11T00:02:00.000-06:00

APPARENTLY....

- You can wake up late and decide to make it a good day despite missing your flight, but that does not mean you will get on the next flight.
- You can get on said flight with an expired license, since your birthday was three days ago, and noone , including yourself, is the wiser.
- You can have a rental car reservation and there still may be no rental cars in the City you have flown to.
- You can wait three hours for a car to show up, but the expired license certainly does *only then* make it impossible to get a car.
- You can sit on a chair to decide what to do...for an hour - all the while worrying that you are for-sure going to be fired for this one.
- You can be given the advice by the car girl that you could just go to the DMV and get a new license.
- You can spend $50 on cab fare just to find out you need a social security card to get a new license at the DMV.
- You can get back to the airport and rebook your flight to go home two days early, but that doesn't mean they will let you on the plane - they ask for an unexpired social security card to go with your expired license.
- You can get on the plane, after going back through the airline's long queue for a "Special" boarding pass that gives you the added experience of a "Special" TSA fondling search.
- You can be seated in the middle on the airplane beside a stinky perfumed woman who keeps reaching over you to contact the man by the window, and passes her jewelry to him for inspection no less than six times, invading your personal space and subjecting you to a running dialogue across the front of your magazine with her Merlot breath of how "Indian made" jewelry means made in Pakistan and the indians on the 'res' are broke and penniless...and when you ask the steward to reseat you, his hearing impairment means you have to yell that you wish to be reseated because the lady beside you is rude, making you seem like the rude one.
- You can head home from the airport and miss the exit on the freeway, leaving you 20 minutes south on the highway before you notice that you are on 121 not 114.
- You can get to the corner of 407 and 377 and see firetrucks headed for your house....
and believe it or not...
It was not on fire yet! Just the grass.
Wow, what a great day.
A day in the life of the Ande.

2007-01-07T00:37:00.000-06:00

M took me to Macaroni Grill for my birthday dinner and then we watched "The Break Up" on Pay per View. It was cute, but he talked through the entire thing. He has headed home, so I thought I would check in here before heading to bed. Tomorrow is the big day, so I have been contemplating what I will do.

Last year I went to the Kimball, but I may just stay home and save myself the drive. I am going to go out for ice cream cake, that is one thing for sure. And I will definitely mess around in my scrapbook room. I am working on some fun crafts right now, I have been making Christmas ornaments since November and I see no need to stop. LOL. I also have an shopping mall estimate I need to finish for a 26 acre property in California, so I will have to put in a few hours of quality time on that. (ugh.) I have a project in El Paso that is without a superintendent so I will be spending most of my week there, which cuts down on my desk time and makes it hard to do my normal work at work. Oh well, that's what they pay me for! Besides, when I went to the El Paso City Hall last week I noticed an Art Museum, so I may sneak away for a long lunch one day and check it out.

Not much new here, the natives have been remarkably well and there haven't been many fire/EMS calls, although we did get a funny one tonight. It was toned out as a structure fire, which is an "All-hands-on-deck, drop-what-you're-doing-and-speed-to-the-station" call, and the dispatcher's additional information was that the "Woman states her husband was at the neighbor's house, poured gasoline on it and lit it on fire". To which the natural response is "Is PD (Police Department) en route?" But of course, when all was said and done it was the neighbor's BBQ grill that said husband had lit on fire, not the house. People say the darnndest things.

I'll try to check in tomorrow and update my day.
me

Two days until my 35th birthday!

2007-01-05T22:18:00.000-06:00

And someone is getting antsy. Nope, not me, but you know whom! He is so worried about it! Lack of planning on his part has made him make a few last ditch attempts this week - Want to go to Shreveport overnight? Arkansas? Let's go look at houses?

I love him just the way he is. Besides, how could he ever top last year's gift? The electric rechargeable toothbrush? LOL! I know, I know, but I love the toothbrush, and I love that man.

Scrap Goals for the New Year

2007-01-01T12:04:00.000-06:00

1. Scrap 104 layouts (2 a week), one inspired by Elsie's 52 weekly challenges which I had to have and now can't find on the floor of my scraproom. Develop my personal style.
2. Set up a "to-go" bag with a couple planned layouts to carry in my truck in case the urge strikes me on the way home (I drive by the LSS with the free open cropping time every day!)
3. Stop trying to completely organize my scraproom before I can "start" scrapping - this method has been proven NOT to work for me. Instead, I'll spend fifteen minutes a day (a la Flylady) and just jump in where I am.
4. Instead of stressing to make a calendar for this year, I will make 2008's calendar out of my 2007 kit - the pages aren't numbered!
5. Make a new, fun address "book" on a stand. And send people a card when I finish their pages.

I think this is do-able!

Meeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry Christmas!

2006-12-25T00:25:00.000-06:00

Look how my little light shines! A little too low to be a heart, but at least I am reflective.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly....or, maybe a plastic tree with a tiny pig, monkey, and a stuffed dog. At least it has lights, and the menagerie has santa hats.

It is pouring like a sonofa*****, not a term I usually use, but it fits well. Hope Santa doesn't look up, one could drown. Good thing for Rudolph. I forgot my jacket at home - pray for no calls or I will be in bunker gear for them.

Missed the Nutcracker - got lost on the way to Will Rogers Auditorium and missed curtain, and just didn't want to go if I couldn't be in there until halftime, which of course is not the proper term for a ballet. I just wanted it to be perfect. Drove a million miles to Recollections!!! and then met dbf instead for potstickers and diet coke.

Missed church - no real reason, but my partner wasn't interested in going and that makes it a bigger ordeal. Pastor Kory dropped by on his way home and wished us merry, though.

Miss my family. Miss my dbf, who is home with his kids. Miss snow (just for tonight though!). Miss my baby girl.

Made turkey dinner, had pralines (OK, I had almost a dozen, but we won't go there), made myself uncomfortably full, and lazed around. Haven't napped since before lunch! We had one call, a rollover, and J jumped it. More power to them I guess, seems a little rude to me but it is no big deal to the Chief so it is nunnamybizness. Besides, we sat in our warm cozy ambulance while they got wet in the rain and picked up bloody guy. Bloody guy just had a wounded paw, no big deal. Well, I am sure it was to him, but nothing that required a helicopter or those tense anxious moments when you wonder what the heck you decided to do this for!

33.5 hours left on this shift. Working on Patrick's scrapbook, nothing amazing there, just a basic, functional book with a couple minimal embellishments per page. Solid. (OK, I am bored of it already!) Next project - maybe the address book?

OOOh oooh ooooh!

2006-11-13T18:56:00.000-06:00

Can't you just see me waving my hand wildly in the air?Ok, I think I know the answer. I'm just not sure I like it!

It's cold today. My truck is *still* in the shop. The manager and I are discussing how much it would cost me to "get into" a new one. I think he believes I am from a wierd planet somewhere, especially after I told him I had intended to keep my '05 for seven (Oh yes, I said 7) years. But, everyone gets new vehicles every two years! And, everyone is in debt.... And as for me, I don't want to be paying $546 a month for the rest of my days for the privelege of driving to work. I sat down and figured out the percentages - it looks like almost 30 percent of my salary is used just to keep me making my salary! So, if I made 75% of what I make now, but drove an old beater around town, I would still be the same amount ahead. *Sigh*. This is what I get for being good at math. President Bush made some statements about how all Americans should be working from home and conserving fuel...how come my boss doesn't listen?

Just a simple minded Canadian here, but I got my Social Security notice today. Let's just put aside, for a moment, that I pay 6.4% of my salary into a program to provide benefits that I am not legally eligible for. And let's look at the little comment on the side... "If you were disabled today, your benefits would be 1023.32 per month." (Yeeeeeehaw! hehehe) And then in the little teeny tiny print... "This amount is subject to change as laws change. Changes have been made that affect your earnings. In the year 2040, without changes to the system, the system will only be able to pay 74% of the amount estimated to be paid." Well, aint that a kick in the pants! Sorry guys, old Uncle Sam done been eating out at KFC too much, and the bills got a little too high. Yes, I understand that in the current social climate with health care costs rising and prescription drug costs at an all time high, most of this money will go to pay for the white bread couch potato diseases we created when we made all these people into workaholics that ignored everything their whole lives for "the company" which promptly threw them out on their butts when they hit 65. And as they look around bewildered at the change in rules that made them no longer productive members of society, and start singing about the cat in the cradle and the silver spoon, I just want to scream...See! I told you so!

Careful what you wish for. Wow, I am a joyous fountain of light today. Why do I always fel like the world is unfair and it is my job to fix it? Oh well, people will always know where I have been swimming as long as I keep making waves.

First Post!

2006-08-30T11:55:00.000-05:00

This is My New Blog. This is my First Post. This is my First Post to My New Blog.

I really miss grade 2. :) What a fun time that was...