We bought a new couch to replace our somewhat dilapidated one and would like to offer this old one to friends and their friends before I put it on Freecycle. You must have your own truck and someone to help you load it. We are located in Penbrook (right outside of the City of Harrisburg).
This is, I think, a Broyhill. It was a very well made couch when we got it 12 years ago, but we are hard on furniture since we actually use it and have two sons and many pets. It was custom designed to have the big 4 for me:
Removable back cushions.
Rectangular--not t-shaped--seat cushions so they can be switched and flipped.
Removable cushion covers so they can be removed, washed and line dried.
Deep seating.
The current upholstery is the original, which is olive green canvas. Their is no skirt and it has four dark wood bun feet. I might suggest a fifth and sixth be added in the middle of the front and back if your are getting this to fix up. It might keep the frame from twisting again.
And now for the flaws.
The top piece of wood across the front has become detached on both ends and twisted so it is now 1" high and 4" deep instead of vice versa.
Along the top of this area of the frame--but under the cushion, and only on the one side of the sofa--the upholstery is split open.
The upholstery has been split along the seems in two places.
One of the seat cushion covers has a large hole on both sides.
With a knowledgeable re-upholsterer who could fix the part of the frame, it could be as good as new. With a slipcover it is perfectly serviceable for a rec room or first apartment. As is, an upscale frat house might enjoy it.
Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested. We will be getting our new sofa this Saturday, the 21st, right before the "Rapture." Whoever wants it will need a truck and a friend to help take it out of the house and load it. Our house is smoke free, but we do have both cats and dogs. Please call 717-314-1217 or email kaylynewcomer@yahoo.com ASAP.
Click the pictures for a larger view, if you see a magnifying glass icon, click again for even larger pictures. The lighter "stripes" on the first picture is the sun coming through the window. The afghan on the back is not included.
So yesterday we found out that Senator John Edwards's ex-wife is discontinuing cancer treatment. The news coverage I have seen since is driving me nuts for a few reasons.
They keep saying how "treasured" she is to the American people. I'm sure to some, yes, but to all of the American people? A bit hyperbolic, no?
They keep describing her as "resilient." If I were her, I'd be, like, "Really? The best you could do was the title of my freakin' book? Don't you even have a synonym for resiliency??"
They keep saying how she is teaching America about a new way to deal with end of life choices. Um, not really. Tons of people die at home under hospice care and surrounded by their family every day. Soooo...thanks for acknowledging those people and their families existence and all that...
They keep saying that John Edwards is at her side "for the kids." Nuh-uh. They were life partners, business partners, co-parents et cetera, for how long?? He's there for her. And probably for his conscience. Yes, a bit of atonement is good for your own soul.
My mother blood is boiling. Why? Erica Jong's WSJ article. She misunderstands so many of the points she is cutting down, and I was going to address them bit by bit, but then I read this sentence, "It's a prison for mothers, and it represents as much of a backlash against women's freedom as the right-to-life movement," and decided to stop reading. (Don't worry, I will revisit the article once I calm down.) The second wavers who still espouse this crap make me ashamed to call myself a feminist and seem to want to make me ashamed of having made the choices that I made in my life. I wanted to be a stay-at-home mother long before I had any idea of who I would end up with and regardless of the fact that my mother spent my childhood telling me about all of the cool things I could be when I grew up. It was and still is my ideal career choice, whether or not 2nd wavers or the government consider it a career. And if I wanted to cloth diaper, make my own baby food, co-sleep and wear my baby, that was my choice, too. When I was doing that stuff it was mostly considered weird at the time, so it was hardly a matter of being "imprisoned" by society or the patriarchy or whatever bullshit these people espouse it to be. I'm so sick of this type of thinking from the 2nd wave that it is extremely difficult for me to be grateful for the work they did for and before the Third Wave. Just as they seemed to be ungrateful for the generation before them, but they don't like to talk about that, ahem... I support and respect women who work for pay, whether they have children or not, so when will the unpaid work of women (and increasing numbers of men) be supported and respected as well?
~~~~~~~~~~~~ UPDATE: I have to add that I also resent Jong's use of the term "right-to-life movement" instead of the anti-choice or anti-abortion movement.
This morning I did not go to bed until the men were all leaving for the day. I always marvel at how my men--and I do mean all three of them--can stand around or wander around aimlessly while waiting for others to be ready to leave the house, but as soon as it's time to actually leave, one or more of them suddenly remember seventeen things they need to do. Many mornings, I hear Nate (who drives the boys to school because it's on his way to work) say this: "I'm leaving with or without you." This is after many "clock" warnings and with much impatience, of course.
This is how my men are with many things in life, not just getting out of the house. School projects, homework, cleaning up after themselves, completing chores and errands and on and on. Much "wandering around aimlessly" and a flurry of activity at the end that threatens to derail the whole task at hand.
But if they get a project in their heads about which they are excited. BAM! The "focus laser" comes on and nothing can deter them.
My youngest came home today and proceeded to gather supplies from around the house and work on his Halloween costume for quite a while without getting distracted before he was done. And then? He cleaned up after himself!! Wacky, wild and weird in this household, let me tell you.
So if you know me, you know I've been bitchin' about an annoying health "thing" for a while now. This post is about that, and poo--lots of poo, and lady parts. You've been warned...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For about five months or so I've been suffering from chronic diarrhea which on some days is annoying and on others interferes with day-to-day life. Since I was very young, I have suffered from Irritable Bowel Syndrome with chronic constipation, so the turn five months ago was concerning, but I didn't go to the doctor. But the other month Nate said to me, "Between the diarrhea and the increased joint pain, this is the sickest I've ever seen you. You should see a doctor." Nate never suggests going to the doctor, so I made the appointment.
They horrified my fecal-phobic ass by making me do myriad versions of "sample" collection. I'm still traumatized. I'm not joking.
All cultures and tests, including the bloodwork and urine were "totally normal." "Probably just your IBS. Here's some IBS meds." They didn't seem to be worried that thirty-some years of constipation had suddenly done a 180° . Surprisingly [/sarcasm], the meds have not been helping.
This whole thing got me pondering another problem I've been having, but assumed was just due to my advancing--ahem!--maternal age. Shorter, heavier periods; debilitating cramps pre-, peri- and post-menstrually; lower back pain during the same time period which leaves me wondering why I was such a cry-baby during labor. Putting that together with the immediate problem and the history of "lady troubles" in my family, I decided a call to my friendly gynecologist's office was, perhaps, in order.
Today I called, told the receptionist my symptoms and was promptly put on hold. I thought she was trying to find an appointment for me. She came back on the line and told me the doc-on-call or the triage nurse would call me back for the fastest available appointment. Huh? Well, that didn't sound very good.
A nurse called me back and asked me repeatedly about fibroids and my family history of endometriosis and so on...told me they'd see me on the 6th and that they might want to do an ultrasound for the fibroids and "maybe check some other things." She didn't seem interested in the poly-cystic ovary syndrome at all, so I'm guessing that is probably not the problem. Gah. Fine.
I'd already talked to Nate and Dawn and Vicki about the possibility of endo and my fear of having a hysterectomy and perhaps even oophorectomy.
All I'd ever wanted was to be a stay-at-home mother of two children. Nate wanted a stay-at-home mother to seven children. We compromised on five. I then set my heart on five. We had names selected and everything. Due to various health problems, all of my docs and Nate decided for my stubborn butt that I was done with my baby-making. I often miss the ones we never had. The miscarriage and all of the babies my friends and family are recently cranking out don't help quell my baby-lust. A final judgment on the closing of the baby factory will definitely break me for a while.
I loved being pregnant, nursing, raising my children. I hate being told I cannot do something. The possibilities are not pretty. I was just coming to terms with being in perimenopause but it gave me years to get used to the idea. So while it would be nice to be rid of the suck going on in my belly once and for all, it would be quite difficult if the result is removal of some of my lady bits.
One possible plus: I told Nate if I am seriously done being pregnant forever and part of my lady-ness is taken away, then he will be paying for the tummy tuck of my dreams. Buh-bye c-section flap. (Am I right, ladies?) I think I convinced him when I said if any of his "man parts" had to be removed, I would totally let him get the red, fast convertible muscle car he would surely long for. He seemed to consider this a reasonable argument.
Ever since the boys were young, my plan has been to have a fishbowl full of condoms in the house so that they and their friends can partake as necessary without it being too obvious to Nate and I--because there are so many in the bowl that we won't notice a few gone at a time.
So the other week I finally got a cheap glass fishbowl at Petco and a 100 Condom Super Sampler Pack online and placed it near the French Doors on a bookcase.
They were told to take what they need as could their friends, but they were not allowed to waste them on water balloons and whatnot.
The other night I had a dream that I happened to notice that about HALF of the condoms were gone already.
I found the kids and yelled the following at them, "You are NOT allowed to use the condoms to make water balloons, but you sure as hell better be just using all of those for water balloons!!"
So, the old way that Blogger used to post to Facebook doesn't seem to work anymore, so I signed up for NetworkedBlogs to do it for me. One of the steps was to ask friends to verify that I am, indeed, the owner of my blog. I asked both of my sons, among others. My youngest and I just had the following chat via Facebook:
9:58pmMe I sent you a request to confirm me as myself for my blog, if you didn't yet, can you confirm it for me?
9:59pmEthan can i not?
im to lazy to click
nd the mouse is so far away
9:59pmMe yeah, but then fb wont let me publish m y blog...why would you not?
10:01pmEthan idk tho
how can i be sure ur the authore of blahgblahgblahg
author*
they taught us about plagerism in skool
10:01pmMe ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐
:-)
10:02pmEthan
brb i hav to google some sample phrases to make sure u didnt steal this from someone elses blog
Why did I teach them how to be smart asses so well? It makes me laugh my mom ass off, but it's still frustrating.
It's the grey man-sweats that make the sexiness complete.
What you see above is me in the midst of a 24 hour pH study. They put the guide wire up my nose, down the back of my throat and into the lower esophageal sphincter. A probe in my stomach measured the pH there, while a higher probe measured the pH in my esophagus. The probe attached to a little computer and I wore it for 24 hours. In this way they can tell if I am having GERD. Having studiously examine the pH numbers the whole 24 hours (hey, it was interesting to me!) I have concluded I probably don't have reflux at all. I also concluded that I am suprised I am able to digest food at all. My stomach acid is completely neutral--hovering around 7.0 for almost the whole 24 hours. The doctor will examine the results and pass them along to my doctors and then they'll tell me their conclusions and what comes next. Should be interesting.
Our pre-lit artifical xmas tree was a huge hassle for us this year, and we spent actual xmas day with no lights on it since it went kablooey for good as Nate tried to light it before I came downstairs. Somehow I did not notice this until later that night when we came home from my mother's xmas dinner gathering. (Probably because I was desparetly trying to figure out what was wrong with our super expensive only two years old Nikon; turns out the lense wasn't on right, duh!) So here are a couple of xmas morn pics:
I got my pay for the end of last quarter and my two week paid xmas holiday. I'm still lokking at the damn paystub in disbelief! I never had a paid vacation before. It's so freakin' weird. And awesome! It wasn't a relaxing vacation, but still... But back to work starts Sunday. Blech.
Yesterday was my 37th birthday. I was sick. I have been sick on every birthday as long as I can remember back to junior high. Apparently I carry the "sick" around but do not allow it to come out until I am done with work, school, holiday shopping and the holidays. My body is either very smart or very dumb. I vote the latter. In related news, tomorrow is my 24 hour Ph test. The will put a guide wire up my nose, down the back of my throat, into my esophagus. On the outside the wire will connect to a little belt pack computer which monitors the Ph levels in my esophagus for, yes, 24 hours. Sounds fun!!! For my birthday the boys (whch, of course, includes Nate) and I went to the Melting Pot. One of my favorite places, if not the classiest of my favorites. If you're not familiar with it, it is a chain which only serves fondue. We had traditional Swiss for an appetizer, salads (I had a southwestern Cobb salad), then we had a variety of meats, poultry and fish cooked in the traditional boullion, then for dessert dark chocolate with peanut butter and great dippers. Yum. Even with a bottle of wine we didn't spend a terribly large amount and the boys seemed to have a little fun, so I was happy. I forgot to mention here, but holden and Ethan went to bed around 9:30 on xmas eve. Holden normally stays up until between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. on school nights and around 2 a.m. when there is no school the next day. Ethan has a 10 p.m. bedtime on school nights, but 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. bedtime when there is no school the next day. It made me so happy to see they were still at the ages where they can be excited about xmas morning. Holden got an Xbox 360 and Ethan got an Ipod Classic. And Nate and I got lots of great stuff for each other. It was a banner xmas this year. Then Friday night was my friend Tahnee's surprise birthday party for her 30th which was at Appalachian Brewing Company. We had fun; Tahnee a little too much maybe, lol. It was nice to get out and see people. Oh and I got a letter today saying I got a 3% merit raise at work. Good week , other than "the sickness."
Tiredtiredtired. And I don't have any idea why, but I am constantly sleeping. MY BFF and her DH had their gorgeous baby boy, Tobin Samuel Sincoff. (I was up there for a few days so that is my excuse for not blogging for a month, lol.) I'll post the pics I took after I (finally) email them to the proud and happyhappy parents. Quick news:
Boys are on Xmas vacay now.
My quarter is done (finally!) and I have two paid weeks off. (Great to work for a university.)
My chest x-ray, bloodwork, biopsies, etc etc were all normal. Cuz it's probably all in my head, right? I am going to take BFF's advice and reuqest a pulmonology follow up for asthma (even though my immunologist seemed pretty sure it wasn't, because, ehy, that's not their speciality, right?) if the 24 hour Ph test shows nothing, since that is already scheduled anyway. Since I skipped it once before thinking it wasn't necessary, that is probably the one test for which they'll find something. Because that is my luck. I could have gone and been taken care of months ago, but I think I'm a doctor or something.
Honestly it is the kind of tired I had with bad depression, but we'll keep that on the back burner until we know there is no physical reason for it. They already upped my anti-depressant (because of increased depression) and anti-anxiolytic (for sleep since they took me off of the sleep aid I had taken forever because we were trying to weed out some drugs that might worsen the dryness I experience orally, ocularly and-um-vaginally). But I'm going to ask about raising the Effexor XR once again, lowering the cloanzepam back to what it was and going back on the Trazodone at a half of the dose I had been on. (I like chemistry, lol!)
BFF and I will be starting a slightly different sort of mommy blog shortly.
My holiday shopping is (almost) done, but nothing is wrapped.
Reading lot when I'm not sleeping.
My plants are doing well, knock wood.
I'm Twittering a bit more regularly the past few days to try to get some momentum to post here.
And I'm thinking of starting a tumblog. Ooops, I did it. No posts, yet.
Yeah, so it's been a while. It's hard for me to feel like posting as my depression is getting worse and there seems to be too much to say to have the energy to explain. Plus, most of the people in my life already know all of this, but here goes: a recap of sorts. I had sent an email to my rheumatologist regarding the neuropathy that was a paranoid rant about how "maybe I have sarcoidosis or MS??" My rheumy graciously responding without saying, "Hey nutso!! CHILL!" She explained the reasons why I probably don't have either, but we can run a few tests to prove it and she also suggested I should have had the Ph test for reflux that my immunologist had suggested. (They told me that the wheezing and coughing I've been having for a while was not asthma as far as the tests showed ad it may be reflux--even though I don't have the more common symptoms like heartburn or acid burps. I skipped it because the test required wearing a wire up my nose down into my esophagus for 24 hours, said wire being attached to a little computer I wear on my belt monitoring the Ph levels in my esophagus. Since I was convinced it is not reflux, I said "eewwww" and skipped it.) So I called to schedule that. Then I got a phone call from my primary care doctor's office saying she received the email from my rheumy and wanted to bring me in to discuss some things we could explore. (They never called me for an appointment before, so this freaked me out a little.) Meanwhile I had my gastroenterology appointment. The woman told me that we would not do the Ph test as first she wanted to schedule me for an upper GI endoscopy to check for esophogeal damage, ulcers and pre-cancerous lesions. WHAT?? Oooookay. So I scheduled that. Then when the nurse called to go over the procedure and my meds, etc., she said they would do a biopsy to check for eosinophilic esophagitis at the request of the doctor in addition to any they do if the see "something." Oooookay. Anyway, whatever is causing the wheezing and dry cough is what is probably leaving me exhausted as it obviously interferes with the amount of oxygen I get while I sleep. Still no idea why I have neuropathy. Probably will have to just live with it at this point. Sigh. So all of this uncertainity is combining with the fact that it is fall heading into winter and that is always bad for my depression to leave me on a downward slide. My psychiatrist upped my Effexor XR; my PCP took me off of my trazodone and upped my clonazapem and took me off of two other meds (allergy stuff) to try to a) reduce the number of meds I'm taking and b) relieve some of the severe dryness in my eyes, mouth and --ahem!--Sister Suzy. (This is not--as proven by bloodwork--Sjogren's; just dryness from meds and a natural dryness I've always leaned towards. The mouth dryness is annoying because my teeth are starting to chip and break more easily and the eye dryness prevents me from ever wearing contacts. I use Celluvisc in my eyes and various forms of biotene and sugar-free gum to alleviate mouth dryness.) So now we wait.
In other news, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that both of my boys, in recent months, have cut off their long, luxurious locks into "skater" cuts and my oldest died his black. It actually looks good on him, but the whole "cool teen/tween" thing they are going through makes me sad. I miss my little baby boys snuggling on my lap and laughing crazily at life. Now they are "emo" and perpeutally sarcastic--still funny and not at all depressed, just the projection of coolness and aloofness that makes me miss them even when they are right there in the room.
Holden made high honors and Ethan did well with his first quarter portfolio.
Nate is still working his butt off.
My BFF is ready to pop out a sweet baby boy any day/week now.
My brother-in-law's wife, ditto.
It's hard to be surrounded by baby love just as I'm missing it most.
I've started a few small indoor succulent gardens with various types of living rocks. All of my plants still seem to be doing alright, knock wood.
My book list over there -------> is suffering a bit. I've been reading a lot of magazines when I do read,; I forget to enter books and I haven't reviewed anything for a while. But anyway, at least I'm reading something, right?
And my job... Well, let's just say I'm looking forward to the end of this quarter. I need new sample. New areas to work.
And lastly, poor Ethan is home sick with what seems to be a cold. Voluntarily sleeping. Now that's sick. Poor sweetie.
Forgot to mention the other week that Holden made high honors his first semester of high school. So PROUD!!! [BEAMING] Also, now Ethan got his super long, lustrous locks cut short--for him--it's a long flop on the one front side and short all around. Very '80s skater boy. I guess that's retro cool now. This follows on the heels of Holden cutting off his long, curly hair in the early fall. Sigh... they look super cute, but I miss their long hair.
Well, this card-carrying, hairy-legged, socialist feminist will be proud to counter the "counter" of Palin with a vote for Obama.
By now you've probably heard that Palin thinks some of us in the (AHEM!) blue states ain't so patriotic. Card 56 douchebag (and my pal) Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn) was kind enough to have Palin's back on that one. Can't wait for the all-girl version of the HUAC. HOT!
Sarah Palin is an unethical thief, part 2. Alaska funded Palin kids' travel (Ya gotta read this one, goshdarnit. Sarah SixPack sounds so goldang down to earth. Just like me. Especially the part about spendin' $21K of someone elses money on plane tickets and thousands of someone elses money on separate luxury hotel rooms for the kiddos over the course of 23 months, you betcha, goshdarnit.)
This is seriously effed up. What the hell is going on in today's Army? Seriously?
Army to probe 5 slayings linked to Colo. brigade By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press Writer P. Solomon Banda, Associated Press Writer – Sat Oct 18, 10:12 am ET DENVER – Fort Carson soldiers returning from deployment in Iraq are suspects in at least five slayings, and officials want to know why.Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Graham announced Friday a task force will examine any commonalities in the five killings, all allegedly committed by soldiers from the post's 4th Brigade Combat Team in the past 14 months. A sixth BCT soldier faces an attempted murder charge. "We have many great young Americans in our Army who have volunteered to serve during a time of war, almost all of whom are great citizens," Graham said in a statement. "However, we too are very concerned about these horrible acts." Fort Carson also plans to re-screen about 1,200 soldiers from the brigade for potential physical or mental health problems. Earlier Friday, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to investigate the slayings. Officials learned of the latest on Monday, when Spc. Robert Hull Marko, 21, led investigators to the body of 19-year-old Judilianna "Judi" Lawrence, whom he met on the social networking Web site MySpace, according to an arrest affidavit released Tuesday. The affidavit said Marko told investigators he had violent sex with Lawrence before slitting her throat and leaving her to die in the foothills west of Colorado Springs. His next court appearance is Monday. The issue of homicides by combat-stressed veterans gained national prominence in January, after The New York Times reported that at least 121 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans had committed a killing in the United States or been charged in one. Karen Linne, a spokeswoman for Fort Carson, said commanders two months ago ordered squad leaders and team leaders to reevaluate soldiers to see if they need additional help following concerns raised after another soldier from the unit was linked to a double slaying. Pfc. Jomar Dionisio Falu-Vives, 24, and Spc. Rodolfo Torres-Gandarilla, 20, face attempted murder charges in the May 26 wounding of Capt. Zachary Zsody, who was shot twice while standing at an intersection. An arrest affidavit released in August said an AK-47 used in the Zsody case was found in Falu-Vives' apartment and it was also used in the June 6 deaths of two people gunned down on the street while putting up signs for a garage sale. Killed were Cesar Ramirez Ibanez, 21, and Amairany Cervantes, 28. Prosecutors filed murder charges against Falu-Vives on Sept. 15. Three other members of the unit were accused in the slayings of two soldiers. Bruce Bastien Jr. was sentenced last month to 60 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in the December shooting death of Kevin Shields, and conspiracy to commit murder in the August 2007 death of Robert James. Bastien, and co-defendant Kenneth Eastridge, both agreed to testify against fellow Iraq war veteran Louis Bressler, the alleged triggerman. Eastridge pleaded guilty July 11 to accessory to murder in Shields' death and will be sentenced Nov. 3. Bressler is scheduled to go on trial in the Shield slaying Nov. 3, while his trial in the James homicide is scheduled for Dec. 1. "Those who committed these violent crimes should be brought to justice," said Salazar. "But these tragedies also raise a number of questions from the backgrounds and service records of these soldiers, to whether they received waivers to enter the service, to the adequacy of mental health screening and treatment within the Army." Falu-Vives and Torres-Gandarilla, accused together in one case and Bastien, Bressler and Eastridge, accused in the two slayings, served in Iraq last year with the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Brigade Combat Team. There weren't any immediate indications that both sets of men knew each other. Marko was a mortarman with Charlie Company, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, of the 4th BCT and served from February 2007 until February of this year.
Alton Brown, a man who owes his living to those who love food, is a fattist. Gross.
Food Star Alton Brown Talks Sustainability [EXCERPT:]”I’ve struggled with weight all my life, and probably always will. But I was on my most recent book tour I was shocked by the number of overweight families,” he says. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, we love the Food Network.’ Well, no (expletive); did you eat the TV? There’s only four of you and you can’t ride in an elevator together. I’ll probably make fat people angry, but we need, as a culture, to be ashamed. It’s not “… healthy.”[whole article at link]
Finally, a personal note:
Ugh, it was a long day. I left the house at 9:45 a.m. and returned at 8:30 p.m. and still had a bunch of admin stuff to do. At least I'm getting hours in, right? So..."the incident" i mentioned the other day? Well, a respondent met me at my car with a gun and told me to get off of the property. I quickly obliged. Went back to work yesterday, finally, and got another freakazoid flipping out in their own paranoid, government-hating, inbred hillbilly way. Thus proving that the jokes regarding that particular county's ignorance (in every sense of the word) are based in a modicum of sad, sad truth. I won't name the county, as I would violate confidentiality laws, but if you're from around here, you probably know which county I mean. (Yesterday was not traumatizing, just annoying as all hell.) I'm doing okay now, just dreading the next few months "up there." Nate handled the news admirably, although he is still fighting the urge, he says, to go up there himself. Probably doesn't hurt his odds at not getting shot that I would never tell him the address. ;-) And I know I haven't talked about my mental state in a while and that is one at least a couple of people ended up here. So... It's fall. I'm blue. But, don't panic!! I'm not what I qualify (for me, at least) as depressed. At lot this has to do with the shorter days. A little has to do with my boys separating more and more from me as they self-actualize more and more. The past few days there is a bit of anger at humans who threaten other humans merely for existing thrown into the mix. And a LOT of it has to do with the exhaustion I have been experiencing lately in conjunction with neauropathy, both of which are, still, as yet unexplained. Sigh. But I know what the causes are, so I am able to deal with the various aspects in effective ways. Today I read that the brain stimulating magnet which I've following closely for years now has been approved by the government for use. This heartens me a lot, and it is something I will try to pursue before more ECT if it ever comes to that. But I am still a hearty proponent of ECT for those who can get no relief otherwise for whatever reason (drug resistance, pregnancy, old age, etc.). Some people might question how I can take such chances with my most important organ. My answer is, if you had ever experienced my brain, you, too, would probably do whatever you needed to do to try to make your way back from hell for yourself, your children, your husband, your parents, whatever or whoever it is that anchors you to this Earth. There was no other answer left for me and I made the decision as fully informed as one can be without actually training to perform the prodcedure. The magnet? Well, I think if I get to that point again, why not try something less invasive? If it doesn't work? Back to the ECT again. And if it does work, but later we find out there was some horrible after effect? Well, I will have had the time that it gave me back, and perhaps my having participated in the treatment will have helped to discover or confirm whatever the problems were. I have no problem with being a guinea pig. As long as I am as fully informed as I can be and I feel comfortable with what is knowable, I feel like maybe my willingness to pioneer (or whatever) could help others who aren't willing to be ealry adapters or guinea pigs or whatever you may want to label it. Some people play(ed) "chemistry class" with their bodies in other ways, I choose to do it in potentially helpful ways, either for me or for others or both.
Moving on...
My plants are all doing amazingly well, even the pothos which I almost (somehow) killed. 9ddon't laugh!) When I divided it into three smaller sections instead of one HUGE section it plumped right back up. YAY!
Just watched Law & Order: SVU and, by gosh, by golly, my honey Chris Eliot played an astronaut stalking weirdo. Straight. It was awesome!
And right after that I watched last night's Countdown, on which he told a cool story:
Keith always has little tidbits like this, and they always make me wonder if there isn't some kind of Six Degrees game we couldn't make up for him. He's connected to EVERYTHING, man!
(And p.s.: His Special Comment was great, too. He hates Bachmann as much as he should.)
And lastly I watched Craig Ferguson (Cleg Feh-guson) who had Leanne Marshall on and went on and about Project Runway. He is actually, apparently, a HUGE fan. Which cemented it: he had made THE LIST!
So the new list is:
Jon Stewart
Christian Bale
Keith Olberman
Daniel Craig
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt--but only as a team!! ;-)
But most of all my wonderful, loving husband who does sexy-ass-motherfucking things like cook me chocolate pudding, put it in a HUGE measuring cup with a comfortable handle and letting me eat spoon by spoon and not sharing it because I had a tough week and my period on top of that. That's (as Paris would say) HOT!
Someday soon, I'll get my verbosity under control. But there is so much going on in the world right now!!! TTFN, sweeties! (Sleepy....YAWN!)
My youngest sent this to my oldest who sent it to me, and now I share it with you to show how relevant I can be. Plus it's hy-fucking-sterical. (Why is this word not catching on yet, are you guys using it in casual converstaion??)
Family: Holden started his drum lessons. So far he is liking them and practicing. We told him he couldn't buy his drum kit until he has stuck with the lessons for a month or two.
Both boys are back in school now. Holden is enjoying school and doing very well, despite his last minute jitters right before he started about going to SciTech. Ethan's school hired a new teacher, so he doesn't have the teacher he thought he'd have and is quite relieved and happy with the new teacher so far.
I got tickets for The View in the mail today. I don't remember requesting them and presume I did it around the time I had ECT. Ma vaguely remembers me asking her about going sometime around the ECT. So my grandma, Ma, and BFF Vicki are going to see The View and, hopefully, get some good free shit. But at the very least BFF and I will get to boo H-ASS-elbeck. Ma and Grandma and I will go up to Manhattan the night before for a "night on the town" since we have to be there early for the taping.
Health: I finished my antibiotics for the possible Lyme disease last Friday, so if I don't feel better by appx. the 26th, then back to the drawing board regarding the neuropathy and exhaustion. So far all is pretty much the same. Hence the lack of posts lately, because if I am not working, I'm resting. Plus my allergies are out-of-fucking-control right now. I've decided to go ahead with immunotherapy for my allergies, despite the huge time commitment the damn shots will be. But I don't see my immunotherapist until around Thanksgiving. Eh, I'll muddle through, like I always do, I guess.
I've decided to try acupuncture for my pain, but the appt. has not been made yet. (Other things I have not set up yet: 1. Tuning of the piano for Ethan as he wants to take lessons. 2. Lessons for Ethan. 3. Taking my computer in to have the wireless fixed. [Out since my vacation in July...] 4. Setting up a pedicure date with my girlfriend Tahnee as promised. Okay, hold on, I'm going to make some phone calls...)
Politics:
Sarah Palin. 'Nuf said. Anything else and my blood pressure rises. But feel free to Google "Palin's lies" or "fact check Palin." Or for the latest gossip on the Palin family, check this out. Plus The Daily Show has been an excellent source for pointing out the McCain-Palin hypocrisies.
Love Olberman's "McCain in the Membrane" feature.
I'm "eh" so far on Maddow's new show, so far, although I, too, am "Gay for Rachel Maddow."
Dumb-Ass Crap you probably don't care about (even more so than usual, lol.):
I updated my "Books I've Read" list.----------> then scroll down
Some chick I work "with" (remember: it's all relative...) got fired and might get prosecuted. The details will bore you, especially if I already told them to you, lol. But the gossip was juicy to me, anyway.
Today is picture day. Get ready cuz it's comin' at ya!
Rehoboth version of American Gothic.
Kayly: hat, tent, sunscreen, book
Holden: chillaxing and bronzing
Ethan: rolling in the sand for the hell of it
Nate (not pictured): trying to swim to the horizon
That pretty much sums up our week at the beach.
Awww! Arrgh! Pirate Syd Vicious at the beach house
GAW-gous!!
Fat Cat Lays Flat (Sorry, no mat.)
Nate must have taken this; he's yard proud. See our hammock, almond trees, dog run and, in the very back on the left--behind the big tree, our weeping willow.
Side yard! WOO-HOO!
The very first piece of real, new furniture I bought with money I earned. (See part of my Haeger collection on top?)
Moved the two matching bookcases to either side of the fireplace for my cherished sense of symmetry. (The empty pot is due to my snake plant sunning itself on the back porch. Lazy thing!)
My good friend Tahnee gave (yes! another FREE plant!) me this corn plant as it was too tall for her new(ish) house and suffering there. It was her grandmother's, then her mom's, then hers. It is TWENTY years old. Pray I don't kill the poor thing. (Nate wanted me to show Tahnee how the plant was happy with it's new friends the Madagascar Dragon Tree--a.k.a. Dracaena marginata--with ivy on the right and the money tree o pachira on the left.)
This corner used to be stacked hip high with loose piles of books; now it's my best version of a Martha Stewart-esque functional tableau. Those are wines corks in the carboy.
My newest freecycle acquisition. The aforementioned Madagascar Dragon Tree which came with the ivy and this be-yoo-tee-ful pot. Sweet!
Okay. I'll try to cover it. The dishwasher is still not fixed. It's been a whole ordeal worthy of an epic adventure movie, and more time wasted waiting "from 8 until 12" than you need to watch all of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However we did find out that we probably won't have to pay any kind of tuition for Holden as the district has been accepting whatever funds they receive for SciTech students. So yay! for that, if it is, in fact, correct information. But, considering the source, it is probably correct. Nate's car is (mostly) fixed. That was an ordeal, too, involving me playing chauffeur and faulty parts, etc., etc. He still has no AC, but that was his choice. The radiator is golden, though. I've been working a lot in Lebanon area, so that is a lot of travel back and forth. On the other hand, that's a lot of mileage payments and travel time that counts towards my total weekly hours. I'm getting down to the tough part of the job: catching the chronic "no answer" doors. Some people are in there and don't answer. Some people answer and jerk you around or are just plain mean. And some people are just NEVER home, no matter what time I knock. It sucks a bit. But I'll try not to get too discouraged. Which is difficult. And, finally (for now--I've gotta hit the showers and suit up), my health. My primary care doctor did not feel the thyroid nodule my gynecology nurse practitioner felt. My thyroid is still chronically enlarged--surprise, surprise considering the word "chronically" in the title there. Anywho, my PCP said my recent health problems (the neuropathy, some excessive hair loss [clumps], my extreme tiredness all of the sudden, my sudden weight gain of 10 pounds despite my eating earlier in the day and being more active, my increase in pain, my slow healing wounds and my easier-than-usual-even-for-me bruising) could be due to about a dozen different things. So out came seven large tubes of blood for about 12-15 blood tests, including one where they have to keep the blood warm until it is tested, so I had to go the hospital lab instead of the lab at my PCP's office. She also x-rayed my neck from a few angles to see if my autoimmune problems were causing my cervical spine to be swollen, thus pinching nerves and causing the chronic neck and upper back pain in addition to the neuropathy. Still waiting on all of the results. She said she'd call within two weeks. I hate waiting. Hate it. They should tell you right away what's up. Because if these tests show nothing, there are further medical tests she wants to perform. She suspects my AI disease is in flare, or that I have new AIs added to my old diagnosis. Either way, treatment would involve steroids, which I don't want to do at this point unless my doctors all agree that this is the only option right now. I'm hoping it is as easy as B12 shots or adding a relatively benign (compared to steroids) drug or two. Cross your fingers for me. That is all for now. I'm sure there is a ton of other stuff I can catch my huge throngs of readers up on, but that is what is popping up on the way to the gallows, I mean work. ;-) P.S. Check out the last post on Bishkek Bop, and then follow my BFF to her new/old blog: Nothing Personal. Nobody deserves this happiness more than BFF and BFF's DH. MWAH, Sincoff family!!
Link the person who tagged you (That would be Amy.)
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours…
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them… (I don't know six who haven't already done this!! Two will have to do and I don't know if they'll do it.)
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.
So... Hmmm....
I like pineapple and pepperoni on my pizza. The salty, sour, spicy and sweet flavors are tremendous, no matter how you may think it might taste.
I cannot ride a bike. Really. I have tried as an adult, but I have no sense of balance. Can't do a whole lot of things which require good inner ear workings.
Although I would have loved to have had five of my own kids and there are dear loved ones whose children I love almost as much as my own: I really, really don't like other people's children in general, with few exceptions. When my kids have their annual birthday sleepovers, I have to load up on the anxiolytics and hole up in the bedroom.
My cars' names have been, in order: Thumper (tan '78 VW Rabbit), Murry (blue '92 Mazda Protege), my gold '96 Mitsubishi Galant for some reason went unnamed although I loved her, and Betty (sky blue '05 Prius). (And Betty has a voice thanks to nav function, so we talk to each other a lot.)
I make lists of how I will spend the winnings of any lottery ticket before I purchase it, and all of the charitable giving, family and friends' gifts and endowments and patronships go at the top as a sort of "deal" with the gods to let me win, because, after all, see what a good person I am??
I have tried and tried, but I cannot stop picking at scabs. (Literally and figuratively.) It's calming, and it leaves that fresh, red raw skin that I both abhor and love for some reason.
These are a few things I have learned this past year:
No matter how long the darkness is, there IS light again at the end.
My boys are soon adults. (!!!!!!!)
My boys are more funny, intelligent and independent than I ever realized, and I like to think I have almost everything to do with that.
Keith Olbermann is the most entertaining and wonderful newsman on TV. Who knew I'd love someone from ESPN so much??
The face--the literal face--of politics is changing. A woman and a man of mixed race running for POTUS is amazing!!
The figurative face of politics can change--witness Obama's campaign full of dignity, truth and actual hope. It's not just a slogan.
When one is cruising through all of the CSI episodes ever made on Spike TV and CBS and has almost run out, ECT will make them all new and fresh to watch again. Not that I recommend this method of re-loving your shows.
Surprises can come in small and large packages, sometimes at the exact same time.
Life can throw crap at you for a few years and seemingly devestate your world, but it is more than likely not a lifetime of bad luck and life will bless you again at some point.
I am ready to try to keep houseplants alive again. (Wish me and my black thumb luck!)
Costco's filet mignon is about the best thing ever meat-wise.
Frank's Red Hot--a longtime favorite--can fix more foods than previously thought.
Good coffee and red wine (long consumed, but never before fully appreciated) are indispensible little bits of heaven in my everyday routine.
All that loud music as a kid really does effect your hearing. Sigh... (As a connected "thing I've learned": Closed Captioning is a wonderful invention.)
You can grow older and grow more liberal contrary to popular belief. (Right, my socialist little hubby? MWAH!)
You can absolutely retain "cool-ness" as you grow older. Sometimes you can even increase it.
I got my pay for the end of last quarter and my two week paid xmas holiday. I'm still lokking at the damn paystub in disbelief! I never had a paid vacation before. It's so freakin' weird. And awesome! It wasn't a relaxing vacation, but still...
