New Award

My dear, sweet Meleah gave this award to me. I'm supposed to write 10 things I haven't written in this blog ever before. Wow. I tend to be quite open, but I will give this a whirl.

1. I love my daughters dearly and unconditionally. However. If I knew THEN what I know now, I'm not sure I would have ever had children. Because of problems we had with the girls, I no longer have a relationship with my family. K and I came very close to divorcing because of problems with the girls. I had severe bouts of depression because of the girls. You get my drift.

2. At different times in my life, I had a very colorful fantasy life. It was like 'fan fiction,' only it played in my head and not on paper.

3. I practice conversations in my head before I actually have them in real life. Unfortunately, real life NEVER plays out the way I think it will.

4. Anorexics see themselves as fat when they look in a mirror. I, on the other hand, don't necessarily see myself as heavy as I actually am. Now don't get me wrong, I KNOW I am way too fat, but I see myself as I was about 15 years ago and don't 'see' the weight I have gained since. Yes, I was overweight even then, but I just don't see the added baggage. I can actually be surprised when I truthfully look at myself and see what I REALLY look like.

5. I am just over 5 feet tall. I LOVE being short and wouldn't have been upset if I was an inch or more shorter. People seem to be very protective of short women, and I don't mind that one bit.

6. After K and I started dating, while he was out 'cruising' with the Navy, I went out one night with my ex. We talked, made out a little, and he even talked about getting married. Afterwards, I realized what a horrible mistake I had made. Then I was left with explaining all of this to K. The two of them had been closer than brothers way back in the day, and another person from K's hometown knew all about the 'encounter,' so I had to confess before he heard about it from someone else. That mistake almost cost me a wonderful man.

7. I always wished The Mother would have let me skip first grade like the teachers recommended. I often have wondered what my life would be like today.

8. I am quite terrified that I will look like The Mother as I get older. If my hair wasn't colored and it was short and permed, I'm sure I would look like she did at my age. And that scares me.

9. I have gone to the store, bought candy bars--or other junk-type foods--and eaten them in the car before getting home. I did this because I didn't want to share.

10. I've always wanted to sell some of the stuff I make. However, I hate doing the same thing over and over again. I also would never want someone to order something and give me a deadline to produce the product. I could never be an entrepreneur, because I have a very difficult time charging friends for stuff I make--it just doesn't seem right to me somehow.

And there is my list of ten. I'm supposed to tag 6 people to do this, but I will leave it up to each person reading this as to whether they want to or not. I certainly hope someone else does this--I always find other people's lists fascinating.

Laugh For The Day

From Not Always Right:

Me: “Police Department, how may I help you?”

Caller: “Yes. I’m over at the truck stop and there’s a girl here selling perfume. But she’s going around to all the truckers and flashing them. I think she’s selling more than perfume.”

Me: “Alright sir, I can dispatch an officer. Can you describe the girl to me?”

Caller: “Oh, about a B cup. Not too bad but nothing you would want to go home and brag to mom about.”

Me: “Er…what about her hair color and skin color?”

Caller: “Oh…I guess your question makes more sense now."

So Many Changes

Today I went for my annual 'squishing of the boobs' and was taken aback, again, by how many changes there have been in the hospital since we moved here 30+ years ago. It really is quite amazing.

The door I used to get into the hospital today used to be the main entrance. I remember walking into the vestibule, in labor for my first, and needing to sit down because I was having a 'pushing contraction' and couldn't walk. When I finally was able to get up and get near the elevators, someone noticed me and brought me to the OB wing with a wheelchair. I couldn't have gotten there any other way, that's for sure. The elevators were right there in the lobby, so it was easy to find one's way through the hospital. But not anymore.

The hospital has expanded so much that it is at least three times bigger than what it was. I can't find my way around without a map or very clear, written instructions. Just the amount of elevators is overwhelming. It now sprawls across the street--where the new main entrance is--and the two buildings are connected by an overpass. The original building is at least twice what it was. And except for the economic downturn, things don't seem to be slowing down. As soon as the economy looks better, I expect the hospital to do another expansion. The only bad part of this is the fact that the hospital is in the middle of a nice neighborhood that is slowly being taken apart to make room. This is what is called progress.

And what do we get for the progress? Just this: a regional medical center with a Level II Trauma Center; over 200 doctors in 65 different specialties and subspecialties; a heart institute, cancer center, brain & spine center, rehabilitation center, brain tumor center, etc.; a teaching hospital with affiliations with numerous universities and community colleges throughout Michigan and the Midwest. This is one of the Top 100 Cardiovascular hospitals in the US for 4 years in a row and has a gold seal of approval for stroke care. Among the doctors who are here, many have won awards in their own practices. Our internist got an award as one of the best a couple of years ago and my old GYN was named one of the top GYNs in the country. I guess this isn't too bad in a city of around 20,000 people! (This IS the biggest city in the UP.)

Scary People

With 'The Gore' becoming commonplace, a certain genre of writing has gotten a big boost. 'Fan fiction' is very big on the interwebs and is quite interesting.

'Fan fiction' describes stories written by people--fans--who were not the original creators of the characters written about. So, if I wrote a story about Rory and Lorelai Gilmore, for example, that would come under the definition of fan fiction. There are many sites devoted to the broad category of fan fiction, but there are even more that are specific. You can find sites about 'Lost' and 'Harry Potter' and 'Twilight' and 'Star Trek.' Some of the writing is decent, but most is very hard to read. WAY too many people on the web feel as if they are writers--and most of them aren't.

There is another form of fan fiction--and I don't know what other name to give it--that is very, very scary. And that is the fan who writes stories about his/her 'life' with a celebrity. These people write, in excruciating detail, about a fictional life with a famous person--and it gives insight into the minds of what could possibly be stalkers. If celebrities read these things, I would imagine it invokes waves of terror, because these fans are intense.

So, how did I come to find that this stuff is out there? It all begins with my Baby Boy. There was a certain picture of him that I was looking for, so I did a search. One of the results brought me to a girl's blog in which she wrote stories of her 'life' with Baby Boy. In great detail, she described their first meeting, courtship, finding out she was pregnant, and their subsequent wedding. Wow. All I could think was, "GET A REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!" I would put a link to her site here, but I don't want to give her any more hits than she already gets. I don't know if she 'believes' all of what she wrote, but there is a possibility that she needs help.

I guess we all live our own fantasy lives--whether in real life or in dreams--but these people bring fantasy to a whole new level. As I said, there is something very frightening about reading this and I am sure the celebrity who is the focus of this type of writing would be leery and think of getting protection of some sort. I guess you can't always fault celebrities for their 'leave me alone' attitudes.



*I don't have a fantasy life that stars my Baby Boy. I admire his skills as a hockey player and love the fact that, somewhere on the family tree, we might be related. This is as close as I will ever get to having a hockey player for a relative. :D All of my 'love' for him is all in good fun. Besides, I can't help but admire someone who looks like this:


Good grief, but that is one nice body!

Doesn't Make Sense

Why doesn't Barack just stop with the health care thing already? Way too much energy is being spent on it when there are so many other problems facing this country. Time to give up.

FYI-TMI

Black jelly beans do some interesting things to your digestive system.

Every Four Years

Just like the presidential elections, the Olympics come back to haunt us every four years. I used to look forward to the games, but these days, not so much. There was a time when anyone, through a lot of hard work and determination and a little bit of talent, could have become an Olympic athlete. Today, if you don't have big bucks coming at you, you aren't getting anywhere near the games. If there is enough money involved, I don't think a person needs to have a whole lot of natural talent anymore--just the right coaches and training. And all of that costs a lot of money. To me, the Olympics are a bunch of rich kids coming together to have a great big party and to play. And there is nothing close to an amateur athlete to be found within 500 miles of the games. Through endorsements or the fact they are paid to play their game in real life, these athletes are very rich--at the most--or well off--at the least. The spirit of the coming together of amateur athletes competing against each other, is long gone. But, I still will watch some of the Olympics--I'm just going to be very, very choosy.

Curling is a sport that I find absolutely fascinating. And that probably is because I have no idea what is going on! Also, I figure that is the only Olympic event I could POSSIBLY ever compete in. After all, I've been a homemaker for 36 years, so I should know how to sweep with the best of them. ;) I really can sit and watch curling for hours--but I don't do it very often, other than during the Olympics, so I can keep my fascination going. (We get a Canadian station on our cable system, so I DO have the opportunity to watch curling at other times, I just don't do it often.) So, curling is one event I will try to catch during these two+ weeks.

I will watch--and have already watched--women's hockey. I was very excited about it, but not so much anymore. As it is, the US and Canada have excellent hockey programs for women--mainly because it has been dictated by law. And after watching the games that Canada and the US have played already, the reports seem to be true: Either Canada or the US will win the gold and the other will win the silver. All other teams will fight over the bronze. I wasn't impressed with either the US or Canadian team, as they both ran up the scores of the games they played. So far, Canada has won the two games played by scores of 18-0 and 10-1. The US won by a score of 12-1. Not really interesting games to watch. I did, however, enjoy the Finns against the Russians--with the Finns winning 5-1. It was a good game and both teams played quite well. It is kind of difficult to find a game worth watching when the outcome is almost guaranteed--and that probably won't change for the US and Canada until the final game. Maybe I'll watch that one. I will want the US to win over the Canadians, but I certainly wouldn't cry if the Finns managed to upset everyone and take the gold. THAT I could get excited about.

And so we come to the event I normally would be waiting for the most: Men's hockey. Don't get me wrong, I WANT to be excited about this, but it is very difficult. First, I will NEVER back a team that has Sidney Crosby on it, so I want the Canadian team to crash and burn. I don't care WHO beats them, just so they beat them. And I also don't care how many people from the Red Wings organization are part of Team Canada--I just want them to lose. Of course, the hype is that Canada will take the gold because they are on home soil. Big whoop. And there are stories, ad nauseum, about how great it would be if Russia and Canada played for the gold--then every one can see the 'fantastic' Sidney Crosby play against the 'great' Alex Ovechkin. Sorry people, but I have to listen to this shit enough during the hockey season, so I don't need to hear it during the Olympics, also. Makes me want to puke. I'm not really a fan of Ovechkin, either, so I don't want the Russians to win, despite the fact that Datsyuk is part of the team. Sorry Pasha, but you have a teammate/countryman who is an ass.

Being an American citizen, I should want the US to win the gold in hockey. WRONG! After Patrick Kane's exploits of last summer, the GM of Team USA was asked if he would be allowed on the team. Burke--the GM--said there was no question about him NOT being on the team. He would be part of the team, no questions asked. I find Burke to be a loudmouth jerk (he is a GM in the NHL), but the rest of the USA organization could have stopped this from happening. I think this just made the US look very, very bad in the eyes of the world--as if there needs to be more stuff for the world to hate us over. I feel as if it would have shown the world that the US has a lot of class by banning him from playing--no matter what the outcome of the allegations were. (He plead to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct, was ordered to give a written apology to the cab driver, and pay $125 in court costs. A slap on the wrist for a star athlete. In my mind, short of pointing a gun in his face, NO 20-year-old should be beating up a 62-year-old. PERIOD.) I really feel as if the US dropped the ball on this one, so I don't want them to win the gold.

And that leaves me with only one team that I really want to win the gold: Finland. Of course, the reason is twofold. My Baby Boy is playing on the team and my ancestry is Finn. Plain and simple. Realistically, I don't think the team is as strong as some of the others, but they have an outside chance of pulling it off--and it would be quite an upset if they did. I don't actually see it happening, but I can hope. And if Finland can't do? Hopefully Sweden will repeat their gold-winning ways from the last Olympics. That, too, could make me happy.

I won't be crying when the games are done. I won't be waiting or them to begin again in four years. I'll just be happy to get back to my regular TV viewing and the rest of the hockey season. Other people can be excited over the Olympics.

lovelylisting.com

And now for another one of my 'must visit every day' sites. Lovely Listing is a site that showcases real estate listings from around the world. The listings usually have SOMETHING that just is not right--like a house that was used as a meth lab and needs to be demolished. (You would be buying the property and need to build new.) Anyway, today's listing made me laugh very, very hard. You must read the property information to get to the 'surprise'. Enjoy! (You wonder if anyone actually proofreads this stuff.)




The entire post can be found here. It might be easier to read on the site. (Read the comments--more info is available, as the link to the original realtor listing no longer exists.)

And Here We Go Again

Now begins what I hope will be seven months of daily worry. Once again, I am not overly pleased with C's announced pregnancy. And no, for those who don't know, I am not being a horrible person. Please, read here to understand my complete and total trepidation. Since that post, there are a couple of updates. First, the seventh grandchild was full-term and she is doing fine. Second, the "All of C's children--except for the stillborn, of course--are healthy and fine." is not correct. Her son was diagnosed as a high-functioning autistic. He is quite well, but is very much a handful. Bringing in another child into the mix just isn't going to make anyone's life any easier.

Once again I will ask those who are so inclined to keep C and her unborn child in your prayers. At the very least, please send good thoughts out into the universe. I'm sure you will hear more than you ever wanted to about this pregnancy over the next few months.

File This Under: "Words I Never Thought I'd Have To Say Again"

Just found out that the oldest is pregnant.












Will post again when this has finally sunk in--and I can find words.

Girly Bits Got Looked At

Before I FINALLY quit procrastinating and start doing the computer work I need to, I wanted to put up this post. I KNOW you all are waiting with bated breath for the analysis of my new GYN's office, so here we go.

My first impressions of the office weren't all that great. I really didn't like the office staff--very unfriendly and most of them looked way too anorexic for me to feel comfortable. I like people who look 'normal' and there were only one or two in this office who were even close. (On the other hand, my internist's office has people of all shapes, sizes, and colors--quite nice to see, actually.) Anyway, I had a bit of a wait, as I actually got there ahead of time--a first for me, I believe. ;)

Finally, the nurse called me in and we went over my history and all. She was a very pretty woman--quite tall, thin, and willowy. But because she was so nice, I wasn't offended by her prettiness. :D She was older than me and very, very soft-spoken. And this was another thing I noticed about this office: Things were extremely calm and quiet. I half expected to find a zen garden and hear Enya playing in the background, that is how calm everything was. And this is NOT something I'm used to. I am quite flamboyant and am on the loud side, so I wasn't too sure how things were going to work for me, but it wasn't too bad. So, once the nurse was done with me, I waited for the nurse practitioner.

Enter the NP. And, again, a nicer woman you couldn't hope to meet. She, too, was older and very 'mother-like' in her demeanor--very soft-spoken and very, very kind. We talked for quite a while and for the most part, I was pleased with all she had to say. Since my hysterectomy, I have been taking hormones--and when you go through menopause at the ripe old age of 34, you usually WILL go on hormone replacement therapy--and she had NO problem with me staying on HRP. THIS was a big sticking point for me and she passed with flying colors. Both my old GYN and my internist have gone through all of the studies and neither could see any reason why I had to 'go with the flow' and quit taking the hormones, so I was waiting to see what the new office had to say. The NR was on board with the two doctors, so she won me over quite readily.

To be examined by a woman is quite different for me, as I have always had male doctors. (Well, with the exception of my dermatologist.) Female doctors seem to be the wave of the future, however. I think I will like having a female doctor/health care provider--it is an okay trend as far as I'm concerned. A woman has a much gentler touch than a man and considering WHAT is going on, that isn't bad at all. ;) I wasn't too happy that this office DOES go along with the guidelines on PAP smears--I didn't have one done. I'm used to having a yearly, but the new guidelines are that I don't have to EVER have another one. That makes me a bit nervous, but considering I have never had an abnormal one, I can live with this till next year. Next year I will have the option of talking it over with whoever does my exam, so... And finally, the office is STILL having me go for yearly mammograms, so I was two for three on the day--not too bad, I would say.

I wasn't too optimistic about this new office before going in, but after being there I think it will be someplace I can be happy with. I have confidence in the NR, so what more do I have to worry about, right? Right now, I have every intention of going back again next year, with the hopes that my 'girly bits' have a new medical home for many, many years to come.


*ABOUT BEING FRAGRANCE FREE--I asked about the office being perfume-free and got this as an explanation: There WAS an employee in the office who had allergies/sensitivities. To accommodate her, the office went fragrance-free. She no longer works there, but the ban on fragrance hasn't been lifted. It almost seemed as if they are trying to justify keeping the ban, as there was a lot of talk about 'studies seem to be showing...' etc. Oh, well. This, too, seems to be a trend that is coming--not one I particularly like, but I'm not a fan of vilifying smokers, either.

Once Again

A full 1-2 weeks early, the new replacement tower came in today. I guess Dell wants to cover its own ass when giving estimated delivery dates, but really. So, this means I will be MIA for a time as I try to get THIS one up and running. I will be SO happy when all of this is over with!

Yikes

The Husband told this story today:

A guy needed to go to Las Vegas for work. His wife wanted to know when THEY were going. Guy tells wife: "You're not coming. Taking your wife to Vegas is like taking your own clown with you to the circus."

I asked K when the funeral is.


(True story.)