Gee, Thanks Doc

I'm not going to go into details, but I will say I'm going through a kind of scary phase of life right now requiring multiple doctor visits and some very unpleasant diagnostic tests. I was at one such follow-up visit yesterday (which resulted in the ordering of MORE tests). The doctor told me she highly doubted my problems were caused by such-and-such simple problem and she suspected they were caused by any one of a list of much more serious problems. After scaring the crap out of me with this list, she then said, "You know, stress and lack of sleep can make your symptoms worse and can cause any one of a list of much more serious problems to progress more quickly. So go home, reduce your stress levels and get plenty of rest." Gee, thanks, Doc. Scare the crap out of me and then tell me to go home and take a nap.  Riiiiiight.

I understand from my sources on teh interwebz that some of my FB and real-life friends are going through tough times on the home and medical fronts right now. Please know I'm praying for each and every one of you as you go through these tough times. I ask that you please do the same for me, and especially for Jamie. He's witnessed some of my symptoms, and despite my attempt at being nonchalant about upcoming diagnostic tests, he's a bit freaked out right now, too. So please pray for him to not have anxiety about all this right now. And if you don't pray, positive thoughts/good kharma/love would be accepted and appreciated, as well.

If You're Inclined to Pray

If you're inclined to pray
Please say one for me.
If you prefer to call it
good kharma
positive thoughts
love -
I'll take all those, too.
If you're inclined to pray
please do so for me.
Please send me strength
send me courage
send me Grace.

Children's Book Reviews on Jenn the Bibliophile

I just wanted to let you know that I've started posting reviews on Jenn the Bibliophile. I've reviewed the classic "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter and Mo Willem's "Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed".  If you have little ones who enjoy being read to, I highly recommend them both - especially NMRGD. It will leave parents and kids alike "in stitches"!

Classes are in full swing, so you can expect approximately three book reviews each two-week period.  Another review will go up on the blog tonight.  As time progresses, the books will be geared toward progressively older readers. I hope you will enjoy these reviews. This blog has been added to my blog roll in the right-hand sidebar so that you can see when new posts go up. Please feel free to leave comments!

Around Here

I'm still guilty of blog neglect. But I have an excuse - I've been very busy. First, I came down with a mystery illness that my doctor is still trying to diagnose. As much blood as he had drawn, he durn well OUGHT to figure out what's wrong with me. It caused me to miss several days of work, as well as staying away from church - didn't want to infect the very young or very old, in case I had something contagious. I'm feeling a little better now, but I'm still dealing with body aches all over, extreme fatigue, episodes of some pretty extreme joint pain, and irritability. For the record, they tested me for flu and it was negative. Also, I've already had mono, so I doubt it's that.

Despite this, I've still managed to be on a spree cleaning up/rearranging/purging my household of accumulated junk. I've finally gotten to the point where I can't take it anymore. Jamie's friend Spencer is coming over tomorrow to help us pile a bunch of bulky items at the curb. I will then have the City come by and give me an estimate how much it will cost to haul it away. This stuff is not usable by anyone else, so it has to go to the dump - unfortunately. Otherwise, I would have donated it. The "stuff" is the living room couch and loveseat (destroyed by the dogs; we got it from a house where they had dogs that apparently marked their territory. My dogs have followed suit, no matter how many times I've punished them or cleaned the spot); our old mattresses and my box spring (more than 10 years old, stuff spilled on them and stained, so they cannot be sanitized and resold per state laws), an old army cot that got ripped up in the move, a papasan chair that got most of its rungs broken in the last move, an old rotted ladderback chair the previous tenants left in the backyard, etc. I will spare you the long list of just how much junk we're purging. I'm tired of moving it around with me. Even if I have to pay the City $50 to haul it away, it will be worth it for it not to be taking up space and discouraging me every time I see it. As a reward for the free labor, I'll be taking the boys to their favorite pizza joint/arcade as a reward. Bribery works wonders!

I'm keeping up with school work - barely. I have managed to map out on a calendar exactly when assignments are due for which class. I'm determined not to have a repeat of last semester's final exam debacle!

The diet on Weight Watchers continues. I haven't lost any pounds the last two weeks, but I'm still losing inches. My recent illness and an extreme desire for comfort food has derailed the whole "losing pounds" thing. But I can tell by the way my clothes fit and how my face looks in the mirror that I am losing inches. Now that I'm feeling somewhat better, I will resume my diet and be more strict with myself.

Oh, and we got a dusting of snow today! Jamie had his first snow day off of school in nearly 6 years. He was so excited! The roads (even the interstate highways) were closed until noon today because SA just doesn't have the materials to combat these kinds of conditions. I made it to work this morning - but it took me a little more than 30 minutes to go less than one mile to work! Then, when I got to work, I discovered a message on my WORK voicemail from my boss telling me if I needed to come in late due to the road conditions, that would be okay. I didn't know whether to laugh or to scream!