5 Days till DragonCon!

Aren't Weekends for Rest?

Woo-hoo! definitely fall now. The first football game is a definite sign. Wish I could be blogging more than every other day, but doing the best I can. Friday went like the clockwork I had hopes it would with getting out of class, getting over to Reid's high school, feeding him, back to school, grab Guy and get to the game. Back up early for the Band car wash. Then rushed from that to the Class of '85 reunion picnic. Back home to make Guy a tunic shirt in two hours for an upcoming event. Upload about a hundred pictures to Facebook, now writing.

Sigh, it is only 12:40. I just want to put a few pics on here, then get to bed.

It was a friendly competition with the other Flash of Crimson band group doing a car wash across town. I haven't heard how it went yet.

Reid is the tenor drum player on the left, as seen from the stands.

I have been losing my voice off and on since last night. This happens to me with some regularity every fall. When I was working as Corporate Sales Mgr. at my local Borders, I lost it for a whole week. Not so good for my job. Then once during rehearsals for a theater show, I lost it for several days. Back by opening night, though. Sitting at the foggy football stadium as the dew point hit didn't help, but the band was so good. Really, they impressed me with their first show performance.

me and Connor being weird.

Reid and Guy being weird. Reid's kinda hot and sweaty after the show.

And the reunion picnic...

I look a little stoned... (I'm not)

And the awesome medieval tunic for Guy. I'm pretty proud of this, two hours work, and no pattern. Just cut out freehand then tailored to him a bit. The sleeves were originally like four inches too long...snip snip snip, hem.   


I will probably make him some simple linen or cotton drawstring trousers on Tuesday. Hopefully won't take too long. Homework must come first!  He needs to dirty that shirt up a bit if he really wants to look medieval...

But I am already off and running on another project, a cloak. Can't wait to show you all the whole costumes and blog from DragonCon!

Honestly not even sure what I will wear, or have time to do, but I love costuming others. It's a true avocation.    

 Seven yards of microsuede fabric! hahahah putty in my hands.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!                                   

Day late, Dollar Short

This post was supposed to go out yesterday, but I didn't get all the pictures added, so I saved it.

Sadly, the happy-go-lucky tone doesn't apply today...but I don't have anything happy to report today, so I'll just go ahead and post from yesterday. Try and pretend as you read it that it all applies...wan smile.

Wednesday! means 9-5:15 at school. The last thing of the day is a 2-5:15 Anatomy lab. It has been a long long, ok, really long time since I used a microscope. I printed the lab manual sheets the night before and then left them on the printer, so that was an inauspicious start. Another girl had printed an extra, which was very forward thinking of her, and she gave it to me. (Elizabeth) We all worked together for an hour or so on the lab stuff, going over the differences between x-rays, MRIs, CTs, etc...and differentiating between TEM, SEM, Light microscope pictures and lots more of that. Then the microscope work. A series of slides to identify, and specifically, which one was the epithelial tissue from the inner cheek. Ok, I will admit I was initially a total mess with my microscope. I really had trouble with the darn thing. So I was slow...one of the last to finish. But I noticed that most everyone out of a lab of about 24 people was picking slide B for the epithelial. I was convinced it was slide A. I have to stand on my own work, so I wrote slide A. Guess what? Yay! I was right. I may be slow, but I am thorough. Not to say others aren't, too, maybe just being older allows me to be less influenced by group dynamics.  Then we had an exit quiz, which we will have after every lab. I actually think that is a smart idea.

I wasn't really tired until I got home and Reid asked if I was tired. Suddenly, I was. But I really wanted to go back to Fry's and return the second incorrect RAM chip and get it off my credit card. Looking in my checkbook, I saw I had 96 dollars. But somehow, I felt like celebrating. So I hadn't yet made it through a whole first week of school...Friday will always be a football game for Reid and the Flash Of Crimson Marching Band, so no celebrating then. So I said, "Hey, Reid, feel like a nice steak or something?" (He did.)

Made Fry's return, got gas, and we decided on Bahama Breeze. No steaks, seafood. Reid got the jerk rubbed salmon with mashed potatoes and fried plantains. I got the almond crusted tilapia with haricot verts and cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes. It was all delicious. Here's half my dinner... I know food pics never look as good as real life. That's a plantain next to my fish. Looks like a tongue kinda, huh?

A few cell phone pictures, some really fun conversation, getting overly stuffed...it was good. A good Wednesday night. A splurge that left me with 32 dollars, but worth it. I'm careful and I know what is what and what is where financially, so, sometimes, you know...eat the good food and enjoy being together.

When we came out I took this picture of the sky.
Which reminded me of a favorite ELO song. One that means a
great deal to me. Happy Wednesday, everyone!
I know a couple of you will really appreciate the theme of the video, I sure did.

Keep smiling, and believing in yourself.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 ELO Mr Blue Sky
Uploaded by JimLad800. - Check out more gaming videos.

Sometimes Quitting is the way to Win?

Well, it's Tuesday night. Lots has happened since Sunday night. First off, I love my classes. All of my professors seem knowledgeable, witty, approachable, articulate, and happy to be teaching. I can't ask for much more than that. I hear from other Chem students that I got the best Chem professor. He is so hilarious in a dry, older man kinda way. I'm not sure the 19 yr olds really got all his humor. I saw them looking at each other. But I was thoroughly entertained. And I discovered I think I like statistics. I had no idea I would find that interesting!

Currently, I am eating peach pie, sewing a buttonhole, doing this blog, drinking tea, doing laundry and texting. My house is a mess, so clearly I'm not doing enough. And I should go to bed soon, because Wed. is my longest day. At least Reid doesn't have a Tenor sectional at 7:30am tomorrow. Remind me to go by the bank and get some cash, okay?

So my Toshiba mini-laptop came, and the extra memory came. First off, the extra RAM that Amazon recommended wasn't the right one. I should have double checked. So that has to go back. Today, Guy and I treked down to Fry's electronics, an awesome electronics superstore. Guy was full of interesting stories and discussions from his World History and Sociology classes. That was cool. I was able to get the right RAM, a DDR3 instead of DDR2. But when I pop it into my new laptop, the hard drive becomes inaccessible, so the thing becomes an expensive brick. It won't boot up Windows 7 at all. Nada. Chip installs very easily, and I know I am putting it in correctly. The BIOS screen recognizes it and says 4G of RAM, but WIN7 won't operate. So more investigation to do tomorrow. I spent a lot of time removing Norton and installing McAfee (look, I know every security system has its lovers and detractors. I know tech guys use other stuff. But I have never had a problem with McAfee and have never had my computer infected with anything no matter what gutter I trolled in..LaS). I can say that the screen resolution and picture quality are just stunning. Wow. Seriously.
And the keyboard is really easy to type on. I'll post pictures and let you know more about it as I play with it. It is a very pretty machine, and the Fry's guys say they love Toshibas.

The other thing I have to report on is the book I'm reading. I'm still inching my way through "Living Successfully With Screwed Up People." I just continue to be surprised what a good book this is. Why? Because it doesn't look like a good book just looking at the cover. It comes from some off-brand publisher and is by Elizabeth B. Brown (ISBN 9780800732882). The publisher, Revell, a division of Baker Publishing is an Evangelical Christian Publisher. But so far, this book is just good common sense and shows a real understanding of difficult situations. I personally can't afford to see a therapist. With all I've been through, it would be nice, but I just can't. I need to find myself and Reid a chiropractor as the priority and that will be expensive enough. (Reid carries 60 lb tenor drums and has to lean slightly forward to play properly. He needs the adjustments. believe me.) I have been to therapists before, though, and even have one I can call twice a week for short sessions I found through an unusual program. Often, a therapist's advice is to remove oneself from situations that might be termed unhealthy, co-dependent, or the like.  I am not knocking that advice at all, but this author focuses on all the relationships you can't just leave or sever, or don't want to because maybe the person is family! I'm working so much , for example, on communicating with my college son. He lived on his own for five months, and he is different now, which makes the book really useful.

I'd like to quote some, because she says it much better than I could paraphrase.

She tells a story about her father in cancer treatment who decides not to quit the treatment, and ends up nearly comatose for a month, but keeps fighting. He wins that battle because he does not quit. But then she says that sometimes the only way to not quit, is to quit. Meaning what?? "My father was victorious in the fight for his life because he did not quit. He was victorious in his remaining four years because he did quit. He quit thinking about what he no longer had- good health. He quit comparing himself to what he had been- athletic and vigorous. He quit longing for what he wished were true- that he could do what he had done before and have what was gone. He quit thoughts that focused on the impossible. Sometimes quitting is the only way not to quit. (pg. 54-55)

On the next page, 56, she says in italics..."The single most dramatic difference between healthy and toxic relationships is the amount of freedom that exists for each person to express himself or herself as an individual." Not outside the relationship. Not off running around with "the boys" or "the girls." Not the right to impress my wants or opinions on my teenage sons. Not the right to tell my friends or sisters the "right" way to do things...just the ability to be oneself. It is like looking at my dream through the plate glass of a candy store window. I have a lot of relationships that I can't "quit." But what of my individuality am I giving up to maintain them? What of their individuality am I possibly somehow stepping on?

There are things that people in relationships, as individuals, cannot tolerate in a "partner." That can be parents, kids, bosses, friends, whatever. Those things have to be compromised upon, hopefully equally. But if you make a bargain, you have to "quit" longing for what you gave up. In this relationship "x", I have compromised on this topic "y", and I will quit dwelling on it!

So my real questions for myself, and this is an ongoing thought process...is, what am I willing to compromise on of my individuality, and what must I have as a compromise back toward my needs. When the bottom line becomes clear, and it will eventually- in all things- then it becomes plain whether a relationship is just difficult, or it is toxic. And that's a big part of my journey.

Bibbers and Dinkles

Just a quick post tonight. Monday morning bright and early, I start school. Chemistry, Anatomy, Statistics, and Medical Terminology. I have to figure out a way to add human growth and development, possibly as an online course.

Busy day today getting things ready for school, grocery shopping, and also hemming and fitting Reid and Connor's band bibbers. They are like black ski bibs, but not puffy, that go under the band jacket. They come all one length, about 37", and fit like a bag. If "mom" can't alter them, then one has to pay someone. But this mom can, so I did Reid's and Connor's today for their first game next Friday night. From all accounts the band is doing incredibly well learning their show drill quickly. That is good news. Less getting yelled at, I'm sure.

They call the shoes "Dinkles" after the band director in the old comic Funky Winkerbean. This is the unhemmed pant on Reid. Not too ridiculously long on him 'cause he's so tall. (about 6'1.5")

Well, that is all for now. I'm sure I will have lots to tell tomorrow. Goodnight, or...Good Morning!

ha ha ha ha ha...from this angle he looks like a giant!

To Dine or Not to Dine, That is the Question.

Tonight I went to my friend Mary's birthday dinner. Happy Birthday, Mary! It was fun, there was a lot of laughter. Mary's kids are really funny and interesting. And her husband, Neil, is always gracious and smiling. You'd think I would have a lot of pictures to post, but I didn't take but a couple. Sometimes that is a sign of such a good time that you couldn't take any. I wasn't feeling terribly well, but the company was good. Sat at one end of a loooong table with Frank, Chris and Julie (Stewart) Spence, Mary's son Padraic, Mick and Tina (Allen) Keough, and a couple of Mary's college friends, Bobby and Ann. Also in attendance from the high school crowd were Charlie and Janine (Hasselman) Paulauskas. Got to meet some of Mary's new relatives from the Jarvis side at the other end of the table.
I think it was actually Tina's birthday today, whereas Mary's is actually Monday, I think...so Happy Birthday, Tina, as well!

I decided to blog a little about having pancreatitis, because I couldn't eat at the dinner. Well, I ate the broth part of a bowl of chicken soup and had half a tortilla. People don't know very much about pancreatitis. Honestly, I don't think the doctors do either. I mean, they know some things to do to help, but they don't really know why it happens, or why certain people get it. There isn't any cure or real treatment, all you can do is address they symptoms when they arise. I suffer from chronic pancreatitis, meaning it comes and goes- unpredictably in my case. People who suffer from acute pancreatitis have to go stay in the hospital on IV fluids and nutrition. That's the part people don't understand when I try to tell them.

When I get a flare-up, I call them "attacks", I have to stop eating. Completely. Even getting fluids in can be difficult. Believe me, there is zero desire to eat. The pain is excruciating. For those of you who have watched me go through this, you understand. Let's see if I can google up some good info on pancreatitis...maybe Wiki...as usual when I look this up, the information is kind of overwhelming, and the best, simplest info I find pertains to dogs. That may be because 80% of human pancreatitis cases occur in heavy drinkers. Since dogs don't drink alcohol, the information doesn't ever mention that, and maybe is more straight-forward.

"The pancreas performs two very important functions in the body. It makes enzymes that digest proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and it makes insulin, which helps the body absorb and use glucose (sugar). The pancreas makes at least nineteen different digestive enzymes that are secreted into the small intestine before and during a meal. The pancreas is stimulated to secrete digestive enzymes in three stages:

• The sight, smell, and anticipation of food initiate pancreatic enzyme secretion.
• When the stomach stretches as it fills with food, more enzyme secretion is stimulated.
• When the duodenum stretches, the pancreas secretes more enzymes

As the stomach and small intestines empty and the meal ends, the secretion of pancreatic enzymes stops."

For a person with pancreatitis, though, sometimes, the production of the enzymes does not stop.

"Pancreatitis is defined as inflammation in the pancreas. It is a complex disease that is not well understood yet.

 After some, usually unknown, initiating event, pancreatic enzymes are released into the pancreas and surrounding tissue instead of into the small intestine. The reason for this is not well understood at this time. The enzymes start to digest the pancreas itself and cause severe inflammation where they are released into surrounding tissue. Severe inflammation and destruction of the pancreas can lead to shock, fluid loss into the abdomen, spontaneous bleeding, acute kidney failure, difficulty breathing, or death. Not all cases of pancreatitis become this bad."

The only way to try and get it under control is to stop all food, thereby hopefully stopping the production of enzymes, and take pain medication. I myself have a permanent prescription for Vicodin, which I use very sparingly and carefully. I really hope they do not take Vicodin off the market as they discussed earlier last year. 

I didn't want to make the post depressing, after such a lovely party. I just felt like providing a little information, because people don't really understand when I sit there and don't eat, or maybe sip the broth from a bowl of soup as I did tonight.  Sometimes people think I don't eat on purpose, or I have an eating disorder. I don't deny that my eating has become "disordered." You can't know what it is like to fear almost every mouthful of food you eat, unless you suffer from something similar. I never really know which bite of food, which choice will bring on an attack. If the doctors don't know, how can I? I do pretty well to manage it I think. I became a vegetarian for two years to try and manage it, but then my doctor told me I was starving for protein. Vegetable protein is too hard for me to digest to really get enough. Here is a picture of me in April, when I had three attacks nearly in a row.

I don't usually look like that. Generally I am much rounder. I admit I get to where sometimes I think that looks good. I have to fight that. I don't like looking tired or feeling tired from lack of food.

On another note, I feel bad that Mary didn't have a cake. If I had known, I would have baked some cupcakes for all. I'm sure she will have one on her actual birthday. 

It has been my longstanding belief that everyone deserves cake on their birthday. Maybe I will blog about all the special cakes I have baked some time. 

For now, I am hungry and kind of crabby, so thanks for listening. 

Have a beautiful Sunday, everyone!   (and sorry I had trouble with fonts in this post.)

Stuff!

Just a few updates, or whatnot. I have to get to bed here in a minute. Reid has been snoozy for a while already...

I got to share dinner with Drew, the adorable artist who made that caricature of me and follows my blog. He used to be Frank's next door neighbor in a former neighborhood, and now is his neighbor again in the new place. Purely coincidental. Drew is great fun and a delightful dinner companion. It's nice Frank has such cool friends, and now mine, too. Here are me and Drew:

A wee bit blurry, but still a fun picture. Drew and Frank had me laughing so much at Mad Italian, which was good because I could only eat some soup. Sadness, because I love their pizza. I had just said hey, isn't it great I haven't had an attack of pancreatitis all summer?? Yeah, spoke too soon. You know how they say don't make eye contact with a happy, self-absorbed baby if you ever want to get anything done (that's probably Mom wisdom)? I shouldn't make contact with my pancreas if it isn't thinking of me already. Sometimes it is annoying to tell people like nurses that I have it, because the number one cause is alcohol abuse. I barely drink, if at all, so that is not the reason. It just doesn't like to work properly. Kind of like the climate control system in my Jaguar. Grrr.

The mini-laptop is on its way!! No ipads for me. But I won't rule out the next gen or whatever they come up with next. I did order the Toshiba, but I found that the black version was 31.00 dollars less (often true with colors), and the 2G RAM chip, that would fill the open slot available, was only 40.00. So I ordered the black and the extra RAM. This tiny thing will have 4Gig of RAM! My laptop now only has 2. Sucker should be fast. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow afternoon. It probably has to be signed for. If I'm not here I may have to wait until Monday. Crud, I start class and won't be here then, either. Hmmm. I'll have to figure this out.

Okay, I'm off to read Christin's Blog about Air Force life, then to bed! Hugs to all!