Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Friday after work, Logan said he wanted to go to the "Wall O' Beer". So we went to Central Market, bought some Sam Somebodyerother's Nut Brown Ale, some McKewan's Scottish Ale, some Belhaven, and a six pack of my favorite, Ace Perry Cider. Logan also picked out some pita bread, salad fixin's, smoked turkey breast, mesquite smoked ham, baby swiss cheese, two different kinds of olives from the incredible olive bar, and some artichoke hearts. After paying (almost $90 for one little sack of groceries and four six packs of hearty drinks (wait... one was a FOUR pack, not a six pack, the cheap bastards!), we sat out on the patio and listened to the house band play a mix of oldies and Texas Swing. We ate our sandwiches, drank a couple of the drinks of our choice, and smiled at each other. I was feeling good. Hard cider is 5% alcohol, so I was just starting to catch a buzz when we decided to go home.

As we pulled up to the house, I mentioned that the kids had been unsupervised for almost three hours, and opined as to whether or not they had buried an ax in each other's head, since they hadn't called the whole time we were gone. Logan figured neither had so much as looked up from the computer screens. Sure enough, when we walked in, there they were, seemingly biolinked to the monitors. My pale, wimpy children who don't play outside but have superhuman stamina when it comes to staying parked in a chair, playing games online, fine tuning their websites, and hacking their parents' passwords. Here's a link to one of Brighid's websites: http://jiyu-rutherford.tripod.com/

I haven't really worked on my own website, http://home.earthlink.net/~janesitton. I need to learn more about building a website, though, because I have a (rimshot!) hair-brained idea to have a website about my hair. My hair is really long now, but I'm thinking of cutting it. I don't know how I want it to look, though, so I thought I'd let complete strangers vote on what kind of hairdo I should have. I would even include a PayPal link so people could donate to my salon fund! My website would have pictures of previous hairstyles, a place where people could grab animated scissors and dye bottles and fool around with my hair online. I can visualize what I want. I just don't know how to make it happen.

Other than my hair, I'm constantly obsessed with my health. But I'm a lazy hypochondriac, so all I do is contemplate fantastical illnesses. I never bother to go see the doctor until something really happens. Chalk that up to my Scottish ancestry, I suppose. Save myself some money by diagnosing myself.

The latest entry into my medicine bag of horrors is that I have some new female trouble. I've had four children, all via natural childbirth, so sex shouldn't hurt, right? Well, it did. Logan and I attempted to make love early Sunday morning, and to my surprise, it caused me a great deal of pain. I started bleeding. We had to stop. I'm supposed to see my doctor tomorrow (He didn't have anything sooner.), but now I've got my period on top of it all, so I'm thinking of rescheduling. Seriously, not to be gross, but can the doctor really tell anything when the playing ground is muddy? I suppose he's seen it all, but it makes me uncomfortable (both physically and mentally) to be examined while on the rag.

Saturday was a good day, though. Logan spent most of the day with a few SCA buddies, planing wood, then having dinner and drinking beer (after planing the wood, of course... just call me stubs!!). When he got home, the kids and I went to a bardic. I hadn't been to one in a while, so it was good to see the people I've missed and even the ones I haven't missed so much. I did notice that my breath support while singing wasn't what it used to be. I've fallen out of practice, and am somewhat rusty. But nevertheless, it was good to sing so much.

Other than goofing off on the weekends and doing laundry during the week, I haven't been very busy. The only think of import is that I've decided to do Oprah's Debt Diet, and have already got one credit card company to knock two points off my interest rate AND waive the yearly fee. Not counting my defaulted student loan, I'm not quite $3,500.00 in debt, which isn't bad compared to the majority of people in the United States. My goal is to be out of debt in nine months or less, and have enough saved for a new (or new to me, at least) car by this time next year. Wish me luck. I think what's going to work for me is to close the accounts once they're paid off, keeping only one bank card for emergencies and a couple of gas cards to keep from having to carry cash.

I'm back... I think.

Eric and I were yakking on the phone the other night, talking about nothing of great import, when my mind strayed to the house in which I grew up. It was at 1404 Grand Avenue, on the North Side of Fort Worth. (It was burned to the ground by Bill Chappell back in the mid 80's.) It must have been built around the turn of the century, during the Cattle Baron days of Cowtown because it had an Edwardian look about it and because there had been a fireplace in the kitchen which some previous owner enclosed with drywall.

I talked on and on about the house, things I remembered doing in it, being able to see the fireworks downtown from the front porch, being a block from a park, playing hide and go seek with the kids across the street. I never realized before how happy my childhood was for the most part, taking into consideration the fact that my mother was bi-polar, and tried to drag the whole family along on her mood swings.

Last night, Eric and I were at the Shamrock, and I forced him to play dirty Scrabble with me. I won, of course, since he wasn't much inspired to play in the first place, and the best he could come up with was "ho". My best was "quim". Q's are worth 10 points each (or it it 8?), and it was on a triple letter score, so the play was worth around 35 points. I drank five glasses of pear cider, and had a headache when I got home (I suspect more from smelling cigarette smoke than the alcohol), but I drank some water and took an aspirin before going to bed, and was fine this morning.

Physically, I've been feeling really tired lately, as the period from hell hasn't ended. That isn't entirely true. I've had maybe two or three days without bleeding, but I cough, sneeze, or tighten my abdominal muscles for any reason, and the period starts back up. It's not a full-fledged period, but pretty much a continuous pinkish discharge. My guess is the fibroid is somehow being assaulted by the progesterone from the IUD. I'm not having heavy periods any longer nor am I having terrible cramping which causes me to take a flexaril and sleep for two days, but the flow is never ending. This is getting tiresome. I used to have to wear pads everyday because of stress incontience. Now I have to wear them everyday because of the fibroid. If reincarnation is true, I'm coming back as a man in my next life. In the meanwhile, I need to buy stock in Proctor & Gamble, makers of Always With Wings.

Nice Weekend

I've sort of been taking a break from writing. Not on purpose, but just because I've been too lazy to write. I've been feeling very tired lately, probably due to IUD induced anemia. After having the IUD inserted, I had a period that lasted 12 days. It wasn't as heavy as my periods used to be, pre-IUD, but Jesus Christ in Prada, as Eric says, 12 days! This month, I'm on day 11 with no end in sight, but the flow is even lighter. I'm not sure I like this change. I've had almost no pain since getting the IUD, but it's wearisome, having the cycles last so much longer. It's like it just trickles now, taking longer for the same amount to come out. The biggest difference, though, is the lack of blood clots, which is odd considering that progesterone can cause clotting. I used to pass things that looked like grapefruits, but now, nada. At least I don't have a parasitic twin. Weyland and I caught a program last night about a fetus in fetu. Gross, but strangely fascinating.

I actually thought my period was over yesterday, and managed to coax Logan into bed in the late morning. We had a nice romp (after which I discovered he must have knocked something loose because my period started back up), then took a lovely nap together for almost two hours. When I woke up, Logan was smiling at me. I was about to tell him that I love him when he told me he could see the yellow feathers sticking out of my mouth. Apparently, I was smiling like the cat who ate the canary.

Saturday, Eric and I went for lunch at Pappadeaux where we had a pound of crawdads, a pound of peel and eat shrimp ("skrimp", Eric likes to call them), and a lobster and seafood salad, finished off by a nice slice of key lime pie. We then went to the Shamrock where we sat and burned copies (backup copies... yeah, that's it!) of each other's CD collections. I now have lots of Bauhaus, some Cabaret Voltaire, and some International Conspiracy Project. Eric's also going to send me some Chris and Cosey and some Skinny Puppy. Old stuff from our punk days. He got a real eclectic assortment from me, Edith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, and Bessie Smith.

After we were finished with that and had had a few drinks, we went to what used to be called 651 but is now called, I think, Hotshots, to go dancing. But the place was dead because all the queens were in Dallas for the gay rodeo. Eric was in one of his moods, but I refused to cooperate. I didn't want to go trolling the other dives on Jennings. I poured his butt in the Avalanche he borrowed from his mom, turned up Sisters of Mercy, and hit the highway. I was going to head back to the Shamrock, but Eric fell asleep on the way, so instead, I drove down Jacksboro Highway and did the loop. Well, partially. I drove 820 S all the way from where it intersects 199 to where it turns into I-20. Then I went south on I-35 and went home. Eric woke up when I pulled up to the curb. Since it was around 9 p.m., I went inside and cooked omelets for everyone, plain cheese for the kids, and asparagus, portabella mushroom, and onion for the grownups, which I served with some pecan smoked sausage, orange juice, and hot tea. Eric sobered up sufficiently after that to make his way home around 10:30 p.m. or so. All in all, it was a very pleasant weekend.

XOXOX & Thangs

Logan is the man. Yesterday, he got me a huge box of chocolate truffles (though the mushroomy kind would have been appreciated as well), TWO dozen longstem red roses, and took me to lunch. I think he felt sorry for me when I told him last year that the only guy who ever bought me flowers was Bill Chappell, the man who murdered my parents and sister. I gave Logan a handmade card, a variety of candy, and a book called Medieval Hunting: The Hawk and The Hound. The kids got candy and handmade cards as well, and Brighid made a card for me. Weyland tried to cut out hearts, and was frustrated by his efforts. He threw the hearts on my bed, but I gathered them up and will keep them. :)

In other news, I go back to the dentist tomorrow morning to have the permanent crown installed in the place where the temporary one is now, my lower right jaw, next to last tooth. Then tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to see my GP to have my iron level re-checked, my cholesterol checked, and to talk about various aches and pains. I might even see about getting a referral for a psychologist. I need to talk to someone objective about my problems and goals.

One thing that I became clear on while talking to Eric the other day is that I am afraid to go back to school because I'm afraid I won't fit in the desks. In the years following Weyland's birth, I've gained probably around 100 pounds. A former GP I used to see thought that I had what is called "survivor syndrome", a kind of guilt which causes a person to behave in a manner that subconsciously they think will protect them. He opined as I have built this wall of flesh around myself in order to keep myself from being hurt by relationships. If I make myself unattractive, then I won't be confronted by men who might be interested in me, and thus, I can't be hurt.

I have to wonder how much my weight affects Logan's desire to sleep with me. I'm sure it can't be fun, having someone who weighs 300 pounds on top of you. To be fair, he weighs around 250 pounds at least, so I would get crushed, too, if he was able to get on top, but his bad knee precludes that. Back when we first started dating, I weighed about half what I do now, and he weighed around 200 lbs. The first time we slept together, we broke my bed due to our... energetic acrobatics. So we went to his house and proceeded to break his bed as well. I thought it funny that we broke two beds in one day. Now, it wouldn't be hard to do that just by sleeping in the same bed.

I've got to do something drastic in order to get my life on track. I need to lose 150 pounds. I need to save up and buy a new car, which means getting a rein on spending and paying off all my bills. And when I get a new car, I need to go back to school so that I can do something more productive with my life than just being an accounting clerk. Everyone wants to make more money, sure, but given enough money, how many people are happy working at a mundane job? I feel that I must write. I've got to do something important. Given my fear of dying, fear that there really isn't a god and we just cease to be when we die, and my fear of living a meaningless life, I don't think I will be happy until I do something which I think makes a difference to someone, be it myself, my children, or the world at large.

Mr. Sandman

I've had some interesting dreams lately. I dreamed Logan gave me two gemstones that smelled like strawberries. What does this represent? The kids? They don't usually smell like strawberries. Brighid usually smells like she needs a bath because she always forgets to wear deodorant, and Weyland usually smells like dirty socks because he hates to bathe... until you actually get him in the tub. The he hates to get out. Then the other night, I dreamed that I met a fabulous Scotsman. He had glorious blond hair hanging down to his shoulders, a beard and moustache, and snapping blue eyes. He was wearing a kilt in what looked like the ancient Stewart hunting tartan. Here's a link with some pics of Stewart tartans:

http://www.lindaclifford.com/Stewart.html

So anyway, I met this guy who was just gorgeous, tall, broad-shouldered, with a great bellow of a laugh. He bent down to kiss me and then swooped me up in his arms (In my dreams, I always weigh what I did when I was about 20. I don't know why this is so. Perhaps I don't have an accurate mental image of myself.), when Logan turned on the bedroom light and woke me. I was pissed. I don't think the dream means anything in particular, just my brain having fun. Maybe I've been reading too much brain candy lately, and not enough non-fiction.

The weird thing, though, is that I saw a guy who looked almost like the guy in my dream on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson the other night, in a band called "The Wicked Tinkers". Here's a link:

http://www.wickedtinkers.com/Bio's.html

The guy's name is Keith Jones. He doesn't appear to be wearing a Stewart tartan, but the drum is in the way, so I can't tell which one he is wearing. In any case, I thought the band was really great, full of energy, and ...loud. If they put in an appearance at the Highland Games in Arlington this summer, I'm going.

I should really get to sleep earlier, but I wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't been watching Craig the other night. He had them on to play at a sort of on-air wake he held for his father, who died last week. Craig gave a really touching monologue in honor of his father. You can see it here:

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/latelate/

I've never been a person who is much affected by famous people, but I had to send him an email after seeing that show. I think it is extraordinary to find a celebrity who really acts like a normal person. Grief is something most people try to push aside and ignore. I thought it was wonderful that he was able to convey just a bit of what he is going through via the medium of television. It made me, as part of the audience, feel closer in a way to this personality whom I find amusing and interesting.

Party Party

Yesterday was Beth's 27th birthday. Lordy, that makes me feel old. I was going to meet up with her for dinner at P.F. Chang's, but called with my regrets in the early afternoon. I had been to see my new dentist, and was suffering the effects of having a temporary crown installed and an allergy attack. I must be allergic to my dentist because almost from the very moment I laid back in the chair, my eyes began to water, my nose got runny, and I started sneezing repeatedly - 5, 6, 7 sneezes in succession every fifteen minutes or so. I barely made it through work without giving up and going home.

Once work was over, I hightailed it to the pharmacy to get my prescription for pain meds filled, went home, changed into my pajamas, and medicated myself. Logan made me some glorious homemade chicken noodle soup, rich and savory with lots of rosemary and sage. I napped a little, woke up in time to watch CSI New York, the news, and part of Letterman. I felt much better when I woke up this morning.

Sunday was a good day. I had planned on meeting Beth and Eric for brunch at Hedary's, but she never showed. So Eric and I had a leisurely meal, laughed our heads off, and smiled when we said the same thing at the same time. We know each other so well. I told him when we're both old and gray, like, say, in our 70's, that we should get married so that we can take care of each other. We spent the day driving around looking at potential sites for Eric to open shop. He needs a warehouse type space big enough for a studio, living area, and office type area where he can meet with clients. It sounds like his business is starting to pick up, and like he will actually be able to buy or rent a place sometime in the next six months.

As usual, we ended up the evening at the Shamrock, but Matt wasn't in, so we didn't stay too terribly long. We both had to get up early Monday, so I was home by 9 p.m. which is really early for spending a night out with Eric.

Saturday night was the "I Survived the Holidays" party, which included lots of food and drink, a bawdy bardic, and a re-gifting gift exchange of gifts deemed too ugly, weird, or rude to keep. I ended up with a box full of strange things - an old Polaroid camera, some 3.5" x 5" floppy disks including early versions of DOS, Windows, and an "adult" computer game (EGA!) called Land of Lust. I so need to put an old floppy drive in the computer so that I can play this game!! Also included in the box was a smiley face alarm clock (a reproduction, not an original, dammit), a training hand grenade, and three bottles of homemade blueberry wine. Crystal, a friend of mine who used to work up here at UNTHSC and who cleans my house from time to time (when I can afford to have her over), wound up with a box of disposable gloves and a bottle of Astro-Glide personal lubricant. I've missed hanging out with some of the SCA folks. LOL

My revised device

I rarely attend any functions of the SCA ( http://www.sca.org ) anymore, but time was running out for me to resubmit my device for acceptance by the heraldry department, often referred to as Laurel or Kingdom Laurel. So I made the changes they requested, and here is the revised device I'm submitting:

The heraldic description is "argent, two goblets vert in a bordure vert, semy-de-lys argent". The device represents hospitality (a cup for me and a cup for you) and my persona's French background (well, Norman, anyway), but it's also poking fun at myself, as I have what Logan calls "vast tracts o' land" (large breasts), and have been known to tipple a cup or two.

And the winner is...

Well, the ballots are in, the votes are tabulated, and the results are: no breast cancer (just a possible congested milk sinus, re-evaluate in 6 months), but a uterine fibroid the size of a Volkswagen. The bleeding (literally!) thing is 6 cm. CM, not mm!! That's three inches or thereabouts! So I had an IUD inserted [fun way to spend an afternoon, considering the fact that the doctor pulled my cervix down since it tends to crawl away when touched and squeezed it with a tenaculum (anything with this definition ought to be consigned to the toolbox of a dominatrix: n. A forceps with jaws ending in sharp inward-pointing hooks.), then shoved a foreign body up into my uterus.] If the IUD (which releases a tiny amount of progesterone each day) doesn't control the heavy bleeding, then the fibroid will likely be removed arthroscopically. If that doesn't work, then I'll probably have an ablation (cauterization) of the lining of the uterus. If THAT doesn't work, then it could be a hysterectomy. But my doctor said we want to avoid that at all costs, hence the barrage of other treatments first. Now, for my bowel habits!!

Seriously, learning I did not have breast cancer was a huge relief. I cannot convey the feeling I had upon learning that other than to say it felt like a cement skin I was wearing suddenly shattered, freeing me to walk about normally rather than weighed down by the burden the worry was causing me. Susan and I celebrated by having a couple of doubles at the Shamrock, then I went home, picked up the kids (Logan was in pain, and wanted to watch TV.), and went out for dinner to celebrate some more. The kids and I also stopped off at Half-Price Books where Brighid exchanged the full-screen version of one of the Star Wars movies she got recently for the wide-screen version, Weyland got some computer game based on Norse mythology, and I got a book to give Logan for Valentine's Day: Medieval Hunting - The Hound and The Hawk. All and all, a very satisfactory evening.

Now that my health scare is behind me (for now at least, don't wanna tempt the gods by saying forever), I'm going to concentrate upon getting things lined up so I can go back to school. I will forever be a drone unless I can get a degree and make myself more valuable by learning new skills. I don't make New Year's resolutions, but that would be a good one if I did.

Say WHAT?!?

To keep my mind from worrying since it's another 2.5 hours until I go see the doctor and find out the results of my mammogram, I thought I'd write about my tendency to be hard of hearing (or have selective hearing as Logan believes).

There is a commercial for some medication (I've never paid attention well enough to hear the brand name.) which starts out with someone saying, "my asthma...". I always hear "miasma" instead.

In the song More Than A Woman by the Bee Gees, it always sounds like they're saying "bald-headed woman" to me. Then there are the songs that are "filked" on purpose. Jerry, my daughter Beth's biological father, used to sing "pussy on a highway" instead of "put me on a highway", "take it to my bedroom" instead of "take it to the limit", and when they sang, "and show me a sign", he'd flip the bird to the radio. Childish, yes, but really, really funny when you've been toking a joint.

Apparently, I'm not alone in mis-hearing things. There are a few websites out there dedicated to this phenomenon:

http://www.amiright.com/misheard/artist/springsteenbruce.shtml http://www.sandiegoscene.com/ezine/articles/rice.htm

There's even a discussion about this topic on one of my favorite reference sites, Mudcat.org:

http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5803

I wasn't aware there was a word for these types of occurrences, "Mondegreens". I did know about Malapropisms, which I find amusing. But I like puns, so it's not a stretch.

Send me your mis-heard song lyrics: janesitton@earthlink.net

Now, back to work.

#1 on the charts the day you were born

http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/member/birthdayno1.php

Have fun. Mine is "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals. I prefer the version sung by Joan Baez.

Results Redux

I diagnose myself with worry warts. I had another mammogram today, and the doctor didn't like the way the films looked, so I had to have an ultrasound. The technician just said, "hmm", and sent me on my way, saying the results would be sent to my doctor, Dr. Hantes, and that I should get something in the mail from Consultants in Radiology. How comforting. The last thing I got in the mail from them said there were "findings" which started what will probably turn into an ulcer. Two days seems an interminable amount of time to wait when they already know the results, but just won't tell me yet.



More news at 10:00 p.m.

WD-40??

Still worried about not getting my test results, and upon advice from various sage personages, I called my doctor's office again and proceeded to... well, not harangue the office staff per se, but argued my plight. I really shouldn't have to wait two weeks to know if I have cancer or not, should I?? So the squeaky wheel got oiled. First, they found another doctor to sign off on the results. They called me back and just said to get another test done. I worried about that all last night and called again today, saying I wanted someone to read or fax the report to me. So the nurse agreed to read it to me. Here's the synopsis:

asymmetric density of the left breast with no spiculation, calcification, or thickening of the skin - advise retest to determine cause of density

It could still be cancer, but it's now less likely. I'm marginally relieved. But I still won't know for certain until the 11th.

My appointment on the 11th was originally to have an IUD inserted to treat menorrhagia and hypermenorrhea (either annoying enough in its own right), but I suppose it will also cover the results of the upcoming mammogram. All this poking and prodding, squeezing, and mashing is becoming tiresome. If reincarnation is true, I'm coming back as a man next time.

Logan just called to tell me his results. His bone scan revealed that his white count is elevated, which means he has some sort of infection in his bone. The doctor said he will either need a total knee replacement or an amputation. More doctors have been called in to consult. Logan will of course get a second opinion if an amputation is recommended, but opined as how he'd like to have a red macaw and an earring if they do cut off his left leg at the knee.

Happy news, yes?

I did have a happy time Sunday evening. "The Gals" and I got together at Shellie's house, which was just lovely with cute and unique Christmas decorations. The table was elegant, and the food, cooked by Herbie, Susan, Heather, and Mrs. Smith, was delicious. Shellie made a nice salad, and I was lazy and bought a pie. I woke up with my back in a misery after sharing my bed with Eric, and I just never got up and around good in time to bake a pie. I made one last weekend when we had originally planned to have our Christmas party, but were thwarted by an attack of the wrathful plumbing gods. Shellie and Herbie had plumbing problems, and Brighid managed to pull the bibcock off the wall of the house in the backyard as well. Not that we could have had the party at my house -- the kitchen is mostly clean, but the rest of the hovel looks as if a bomb made of laundry and legos has exploded. I suppose it's just as well, since Logan was laid up in bed with a pillow under his knee, and the kids were firmly ensconced in front of the computers, dreaming up new ways to torture their families in The Sims.

Speaking of games, I'm off to play a round of spades before lunch is over.

Happy F*%#ing New Year

Or so my eldest daughter, Beth, said, in a text message sent to me early yesterday morning. I was at the Shamrock, drinking with Eric. We had just gotten back from seeing Brokeback Mountain. It was a tale of misery, for sure. I just wanted to slap everyone involved, and yell at them, "get on with it or get over it." Of course, being gay in the late 60's and early 70's in Montana and Texas was different (though not much depending upon distance from an urban setting), but gawd! There sure is enough misery to go around in the world.

Logan had phoned just before Beth, on her way to drunk (her words), sent me the lovely greeting. I thought it was so sweet for him to call me at midnight to wish me Happy New Year. He was at home, minding die Kinder. He let them stay up til midnight, then sent them off to bed. When I got home from the bar, he was still awake. Eric spent the night (in my bed) since his mom didn't want him driving with all the drunks and cops out. So Logan (playing Age of Empires 3), Eric, and I drank some more. Eric opened a couple of bottles of a heavy red wine which I had trouble drinking. The acidity was pretty high, and I had already had three rum & Cokes (doubles at that!), so I wasn't really in a mood to drink anyway.

I needed something to help me relax, though, since I've been worried about my test results -- or lack thereof. I had a mammogram done on the 27th, and got a letter back the next day from the radiologist saying I needed further tests. My doctor is on vacation until the 11th, but I went ahead and scheduled another mammogram for the 9th. What a wonderful way to start the new year.

Home and Hearth

Last week went quickly due to missing 1.5 days (school closed at noon Wednesday and all day Thursday) of work. There was an ice storm, and any time we see sleet in Texas, we freak out. It was nice getting paid leave, though. That almost never happened when I worked at RadioShack. I think because people seem to live further afield (Weatherford, Cleburne, Stephenville even - west, south, and southwest from Fort Worth: http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=&csz=texas&country=us&new=1&name=&qty= ) than they did when I worked at RS, the school tends to close down at the first sign of inclement weather. Which was nice. I cuddled up in bed with Brighid, Weyland, Foggy (male gray tabby) and Partly Cloudy (female gray and white shorthair), and watched t.v., eating Jolly Ranchers and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups alternately. Logan baked bread, made homemade chicken noodle soup, beef stroganoff, and angel hair pasta with homemade sauce. MMM! Winter always seems to involve food. Maybe it harkens back to caveman days when surviving the cold months meant packing on the pounds by any means available - eating the fat and gristle from meat, cracking marrow bones for the valuable calories contained inside, spending the long nights huddled around the fire eating calorie dense nuts gathered by the women. Here's an interesting article discussing theories of the caveman's diet: http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/caveman_cuisine.html

Back to work on Friday, three hours were devoted to our "Annual Meeting", or rather, our Christmas Party Which We Can't Call a Christmas Party for Reasons of Separation of Church and State and the Medical School is a State Institution. After the party, we goofed off for at least another hour or so. Your tax dollars at work. So this week, I'm rather swamped, taking into account that I'll be off from December 23rd to January 1st. We get winter break off, paid. It's a pretty nice perk, I think.

Well, now today is the 17th, and I'm worn out from shopping, forgot my previous train of thought, and need to go wash dishes and listen to the second hour of A Prairie Home Companion. I'll write more later, and publish this now.

Back to Work

Thanksgiving spent at my sister Grace's house was nice. She has a beautiful new HUGE house outside of Weatherford. Lots of amenities such as a shower and laundry room right when you enter from the garage, a workout room, an ammo/hunting supplies/sports equipment room (a must have when you're the lone woman in a household with three testosterone poisoned guys who like to kill furry woodland creatures, play all sorts of ball, and leave their various acoutrements scattered all over hell and gone), a fireplace in the master bedroom, and a shower with two jets coming at you from different directions. The upstairs is the twins' sanctuary, with identical bedrooms, connecting bathrooms, and a parlor sort of area that holds their pool table and the antlers of several bambi (singular bambus?) they have killed.

During my vacation, I managed to get the kitchen mostly clean. Clean enough that we can cook again. Logan baked light bread last night. It was pretty good. Not as good as Granny used to make, of course, but pretty darn good. Just about nothing beats a supper of hot homemade bread with sweet cream butter, a bowl of beans, and a tall glass of cold milk.

I was pleased that I was able to pay all my bills this month and have a bit of money left over. I've canceled my membership at Hollywood Video so I don't have almost $17 automatically deducted every month, my Sprint contract is up on the 12th, and I'm going to cancel then so I don't have a bill of almost $50 every month (I'll be using Logan's second line which he got free when he had to buy a new phone after dropping his old one in Joe Pool Lake.), and we've vowed not to eat out at all this month. We're going to attempt to economize by using up all the food in the pantry and freezer. It needs to be rotated from time to time anyway, and it will help save money for Christmas if we cut our food expenses. Of course, we'll still have to buy milk, yogurt, cheese, fruit, and some fresh vegetables, but we have plenty of meat and frozen veggies in store to tide us over for quite a while.

We're starting early on spring cleaning. Logan has found a house in between Alvarado and Venus, about 25 miles south of where we now live. It's around 2200 square feet, which is more than double what we currently have, and is situated on 2 acres. Being further from work would add about 15 - 20 minutes to my drive every morning, but having a nice big lot almost out in the country would improve Logan's disposition and give the kids a nice, big yard in which to play. The kids are dead set against moving, but the crime in our neighborhood has increased in the last couple of years. I want the kids to grow up feeling safe. Being in a new school district would be an adjustment for sure, but it would also give Weyland an opportunity to start anew with a teacher he doesn't hate from day one.

Vacation, all I ever wanted, vacation had to get away, vacation meant to be spent alone

Today I start my Thanksgiving vacation since I'm taking MTW off and get ThF off paid. I am feeling very happy, and after dinner (sandwich made with a croissant, smoked turkey, swiss cheese, spicy brown mustard, red onion, tomatoes, crispy green leaf lettuce, washed down with a glass of a nice sweet red wine), I'm sure the stress and tired feeling I have will melt away.

I was going to write a lot more since I've neglected this for a while, but Weyland is tugging at my arm, trying to convince me to let him play his Harry Potter Lego Creator game he just found languishing in the desk drawer, and Logan just walked in from depositing Brighid at the Pajama Dance at schoool (wearing pajamas, of course) and hitting all the grocery stores selling turkeys at bargain basement prices. He has plans to go to his friend Richard's house tomorrow to deep fry said turkeys in Richard's neighbor's deep fryer set up for the famous (well, to them at least) Turkey Drop.

So more later.

Can't Think of a Good Title

The doctor called a week ago Thursday, and my iron content has improved, so I'm down to taking two iron supplements a day. The bill is in the mail.

I hope to post some Halloween pics soon, but don't have them now, so I will resort to posting pics I've shamelessly snagged off the 'net. Brighid went as Edward Elric. I fashioned her costume from thrift store finds, and she looked great. Here's what Edward Elric looks like:
I'm not sure why Brighid wanted to go as a boy, except that last year she went as one of the incredibly long-legged Sailor Moon friends (Sailor Mars? Sailor Venus?) which entailed spraying her hair dark with temporary dye, and it was a disaster. She sweated. It ran. 'Nuff said. Anyway, she looked great this year, and was even recognized by a few other kids (not a lot of Fullmetal Alchemist fanatics around our house), and got raves from a couple of young bachelors who were watching Fullmetal Alchemist when she trick-or-treated their house.

Weyland went as a Crusader, which I found to be a somewhat unsettling choice. He just wanted to carry a sword and wear a helmet, I think, and we don't have any Muslim neighbors, so I guess I shouldn't be so worried. Anyway, the kids took my cell phone and went together since Sarah and Fiona were both sick and Weyland's friends go to a party at their church. Weyland came home way before Brighid did. He was tired, and, he said, Brighid was greedy, trick-or-treating all the side streets as well as the entire length of Sheridan Road. Ha! I remember Geoffrey and his buddies would leave around 6 p.m. and not get home until 10 or 11 p.m. with a trash sack damn near FULL of candy. Wimps.

I have to wonder about Halloween. It started as Samhain, the Celtic New Year, to celebrate the harvest and honor the ancestors. When the Catholic Church came to the Celtic lands, they demonized Samhain, added the witches and goblins, and tried to get everyone to celebrate November 1st, All Saints' Day, instead. Well, it didn't take, though the whole spooky-evil-scary thing did catch on once Irish immigrants brought Halloween to the United States. In the past 15 or 20 years, the religious right aka NUTS have professed Halloween as demonic, and are promoting HARVEST festivals instead. So we've come full circle.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday since dressing up, assuming another identity, really appeals to me. And you can't beat free candy, either.

Well, lunch is over, and I didn't manage to go walk today. But I have to go to Sam's today after work and get flowers and a dessert since it's Girls Night In at Herbie's tonight. Susan is picking me up from work, and we'll get our exercise in at the huge warehouse store. I hate Sam's and especially Wal-Mart, but sometimes it's the best choice, at least money wise. What I can get for about $15 at Sam's would cost me $30 or more at Central Market.

Leeches

I don't know how it slipped my mind, but I went to the doctor about a month or six weeks ago or so, complaining of headaches and lightheadedness, tests were run, and it was determined that I was extremely anemic. So anemic that the doctor almost put me in the hospital. I was put on an iron supplement (not the usual over the counter kind) which I'm taking THREE times a day. Which means I have to eat lots of fiber or suffer the consequences. I was even tested for hereditary hemachromatosis, the "Celtic blood disease", which can cause anemia, but is actually a condition wherein the body stores way too much iron. Generally, it can only be treated by - I kid you not - bloodletting. Luckily, that wasn't my problem. My problem was regular, run of the mill anemia caused by poor diet. In other words, I don't eat enough meat. I'm not wild about red meat, and chicken doesn't have as much iron as beef. So I've been trying to eat a bit more, eat more spinach, and cook in a cast iron pan. I go to the doctor's on the 31st to have my blood re-tested. So I guess I have leeches on the mind. Both kinds, actual blood suckers and then the wallet suckers, doctors and labs.

world's shortest personality test

shamelessly stolen from Deawn's blog (www.deawn.blogspot):

Your Personality Profile

You are nurturing, kind, and lucky. Like mother nature, you want to help everyone. You are good at keeping secrets and tend to be secretive. A seeker of harmony, you are a natural peacemaker. You are good natured and people enjoy your company. You put people at ease and make them feel at home with you.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

just a few thoughts

Well, I got very busy at work, and forgot all about going to the DO, dammit! I needed a good rub, too.

The latest installment in Madelina's Medical Maladies comes under the heading of "too much of a good thing". Last Sunday, Logan was feeling good, better than usual, so we had a nice romp that lasted most of the afternoon, fooling around, napping, spooning, talking, reading, watching tv, more fooling around, & etc. Lots of etc. Apparently, Dr. Hantes took a few extra stitches than he should have because I've been walking around all week feeling like a newlywed. Some people question why I stay with Logan considering the combative nature of our relationship. So for those inquiring minds, I have two words: well endowed. 'Nuff said. I have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Hantes so see if there is any actual damage. Logan said he felt something strange, sort of scratchy and plastic like. My fear is that some of the mesh used to repair what got "to' up" (due to four natural childbirths) is poking through, which means another surgery to fix it. *heavy sigh*

Other than that, I've been feeling pretty good, though the lower back pain is flaring up. I wish I was one of those freaks of nature who actually likes exercise. I would just as soon poke pins in my eyes as hop on a treadmill, go for a walk, lift weights, or any other physical exertion that doesn't involve "horizontal refreshment". I have to find some way to get motivated, though, because exercise (and subsequent weight loss) is really the only way to fix back pain. I only know one person who has been helped by back surgery, but I know several who have been made worse.

Lately, I've been having random thoughts about odd topics:

1. Women are either stupid or crazy (or perhaps both) for wearing high heels. Pundits say 90% of all visits made to podiatrists are made by women. I switched to "sensible shoes" back when I was pregnant with Brighid, and haven't gone back to heels. I own one pair of dressy black flats, which I've only worn twice (to a wedding and to a funeral), and wear casual shoes the rest of the time. At home, I'm usually barefoot.

2. Everyone thinks he has good taste, whether he really does or not. I find trying to keep up with the latest fashions tedious. Even back when I considered myself cool (Now, I just consider myself grown up.), I dressed in an eclectic manner, prefering "vintage" (aka at least a decade old as far as fashion went) to trendy. A simple black suit and classic white shirt can take one just about anywhere.

3. I am one of the least fickle people you will ever meet. I still have a crush on Bob from Sesame Street and Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees.

4. When I was much younger, I used to believe in ghosts. After my parents died, and I became aware that my parents weren't trying to contact me from the beyond, I became less inclined to believe in ghosts, and began to seriously question the existance of an afterlife or even God. The one thing that makes me 99 & 44/100ths % convinced rather than 100%, though, is this experience: before I was pregnant with Brighid, Logan and I had a huge fight. He got mad and went outside, and I was laying on the bed in what was still his mother's old room (nothing had yet been touched since she died), face down, crying. I was startled to feel someone touch my back, shaking, me, saying, "Jane, it's ok." I jumped in fright, looked around, and saw no one in the room. Odd. Or was I dreaming?

5. Used car salesmen and TV evangelists can often be mistaken for each other when the mute is engaged on the television.

6. Altoids raspberry sours are wonderful. Also good are tangerine sours and apple sours.

7. I must be getting old. Lately, I've had an intense desire to smoke a joint and listen to Pink Floyd. And I only did that once as a young adult. As a teenager, I only smoked pot a couple of times with the guys who lived across the street, Tommy and Brian Lewis. We sat on my front porch, in front of God and everybody, toked up, and listened to the radio which seemed to be playing Eddie Money and Walter Egan a lot, when it wasn't playing Captain & Tenille, Peter Frampton, or Chicago.

8. I'd rather have a hot tub than a new car, though the new Passat looks mighty nice.