Finally...

Finally, I think I am officially off *Depends Suicide Watch*. I'm still not well yet, but I'm definitely on the mend and happy to be there. I'm still coughing, but not like a couple of days ago, when the post-nasal drip got so dang bad that after awhile my abs popped their elastic band and died, leaving me with nothing but the well-earned nickname I.P. Freely.

At one point, I was yelling to God at 3 a.m. after being stuck on the toilet for hours, because every time I tried to stand up I'd have another coughing fit and pee my pants even though I'd just relieved myself more than relief deserves.

I truly cannot remember an attack this bad ever in my life. Which is why I still think that I had a cold at first, and then it morphed into allergies gone wild. The doc said I had no fever and no sign of infection, and that both cold viruses and allergies are rampant right now. He said my immune system is fragile right now because of the arthritis meds and therapy I'm on, so theoretically both could have hit me.

But, back to my diaper story...

I am ashamed to say that I ended up actually buying a package of Depends, or rather, Hubs did. I initially felt I owed him a big one for doing that, until it became so difficult talking him into doing it that it wiped out all my feelings of goodwill. Let's just say I'm glad I'm in menopause, because he always refused to buy tampons, too. He had absolutely no sympathy with the possibility of me having a coughing fit and peeing my pants in the middle of CVS trying to buy them myself.

So, how did I talk him into it? I simply reminded him, "okay, then don't blame me when one day you might be shitting all over yourself and need a diaper, and I pull the same crap you're pulling now."

That did the trick. :-)))) But you know that old saying about needing stuff only when you don't have it? Fate intervened. Within hours of my receipt of said dreaded diapers, I began to improve. I was able to go get my steroid shot and the diapers remain unopened, forever to remain in the bathroom cabinet when truly needed. By either one of us. winkwink

Oh, I do wanna pass on a home remedy Hubs picked up at work: rub Vick's Vapo-rub all over the bottoms of your feet and put on some socks, and you will stop coughing for a few hours. I did it and it worked for me. This has been discussed on Snopes but no conclusions were reached either way. Another great thing it does is soften the heck out of the skin on my soles. Seriously. It's become a new tradition for me.

So, anyway, word of advice to you younger ladies who still have abs that work: Youth, Thy Name is Kegal!

How sick can I get?

Yup. I'm pretty sure I can make my diagnosis now.

My head feels like there is a definite pressure cabin problem, yet no fever.

No matter how many times I blow my nose, it's always one blow short of being able to sound the All Clear...and by now I have the Rudolph to prove that.

You can definitely hear my every breath. Especially when I breathe through my mouth.

Every so often, the need to cough gently gives way to a whooping sound and chest rumble, which feels like there's a little concrete trying to set up in there.

My eyes kind of burn and the skin around them feels like it's lost all elasticity, so rubbing them hurts. I just finished putting some Visine in them, and they didn't even burn (any more than they have been).

And my body aches in places my arthritii has not yet gone. I do as little physical activity as possible, because it feels if I exert myself I'll make my cold worse. I do get my yoga stretches done twice a day, but then I have to just sit there for a long time afterwards.

I'm seriously considering sleeping for 3 days, until I remember I can hardly stay down for 6-8 hours anymore when I'm "ok". So much for that idea.

Still, I'm doing good so far about not having developed bronchitis yet. Once it settles into my chest, I'm a goner. It's Doc time.

So, here I sit, half expecting the worst, and marvelling at how there's still a chance I might just get better and over this in a matter of days. I am chugging down the OJ, hot green tea, vitamin c, and h2o.

If you would, please send me some get-well wishes. With any luck, I can head this thing off before my coughing gets to the "I-shoulda-bought-some-Depends" stage.

You older ladies will understand... ;-)))

Fun with Family

Missy drove home Monday night and brought her roomie Matt with her, so that we could all go to see a school performance in a nearby town of The Wizard of Oz. We had members from both sides of our family performing: my oldest nephew, who had a supporting song-and-dance role, and youngest niece, who was a munchkin. The show was absolutely awesome. They had a real, live Toto dog in the opening scene on the Gale farm with caged baby chicks to boot! (The poor dog barked hilariously nonstop at them, too, which was why he was only in the opening scene...Dorothy held a stuffed animal after that.) When the tornado hit, the little farmhouse twirled around on wheels and the wood trees and fence were all picked up by black-clad prop people and twirled while a light show and sound made it as realistic as could be. A boy! played the Wicked Witch fabulously.

Everyone was fabulous. Hubs (who has to get up at 4 a.m. every workday and was awake way past his bedtime) even said it was the fastest 2 hours he'd ever spent (which means he enjoyed it). My nephew is growing up so fast and will be 16 in March. It was great getting to see him and his family (my brother). You know I'd have had photos, except that school district is uber-strict about no photos or video, darnit. That was the only thing wrong with the whole evening. Family memories get no respect, I tellya!

On the shopping front, I found me a few good little bargains online after Christmas. I should add, I found tons of fantastic bargains and they are still coming. It's been tough not to snatch up more of them, but this is one time my K-marty frugality comes in handy, LOL.

When I got my fantastic fur-lined Crocs that I still love, I immediately threw out my old crappy terry cloth slides that were more than past their prime, but I did need to replace those. The tootsies need to breathe sometimes, even in winter.

So, I found some perfect ones for $2.99 at Carol Wright Gifts.


Now, I did not need a new purse, but if you have boobs and a v-j-j, you know that doesn't matter.

And when I saw this purse on sale for $4.99, I added it to my order so that my new terry slides wouldn't feel alone in the box. Isn't it a great winter purse? I have developed a sizeable crush on snowflakes, so the design lets me indulge for a little longer. (The white soft fleece scarf is an Old Navy hand-me-down from Missy).

And of course, no blog entry of mine is complete without a little good eats photo. :-)))

Do you tend to eat more hot soup during the colder months? I sure do. But when I need a little somethin-somethin in the bowl to give more staying power, I add a torn-up biscuit. After I eat a buttered one, of course. LOL No really, this works great for soups that would taste great with dumplings in them, like beef barley and of course, chicken noodle. Saltine crackers will work in a pinch, but not nearly as good. Keep a can of store-brand biscuits in your fridge and try it sometime.

Tag - I'm It!

I was tagged by my friend Rozette and my fingers have been giving me fits last couple of days, so I wanted to get right on it in case this is all I can post today:

Six Things About Me:
1) I am a Leap Year baby (1956 crop).
2) I owned my own accounting business for 20 years.
3) I have a pretty great husband and a pretty great daughter.
4) I have a very sweet and obedient dachshund.
5) I am allergic to dust mites, pecan trees, shellfish and bananas, just to name a few things.
6) I crave salads and chocolate (but not together).

So if you read this and want to share 6 things about you, please feel free to consider yourself tagged by me!



I also just wanted to show you the pretty salad I made myself with still more cole slaw (I keep making it) and some sliced rib-eye that Hubs grilled. It was delish!

I am also happy to report that I weighed on Friday and those 5 pounds I gained over the holidays are gone. Now to email the nutritonist as to how to proceed...

Thoughts on Consistency

con·sis·ten·cy
n.
1. Agreement or logical coherence among things or parts.
2. Reliability or uniformity of successive results or events.

synonyms: agreement, harmony, correspondence, accordance, regularity, coherence, compatibility, uniformity, constancy, steadiness, steadfastness, evenness, congruity

con·stan·cy
n.
1. Steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness.
2. The condition or quality of being constant; changelessness.

Consider the value of consistency / constancy in our lives. Frankly, I think it is an immensely under-valued and over-looked asset by many who just don't realize the value of the trait in themselves or in other people.

Here's a good question: if you could be either brilliant or consistent, which would you choose to be?

Now, I am not trying to insinuate that people are either/or. Plenty of us are both. Plenty of us are neither. (You can file me away into that latter category, by the way.)

It's just that, all too often, it seems that Society values brilliance and ignores consistency.

Take for example, the words of Oscar Wilde: "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." OUCH! Dang, Oscar, no wonder you're a Grouch!


I wonder if Mr. Wilde was just a little jealous....

Then there are those who've begrudgingly given token kudos to consistency, such as Aldous Huxley, and I quote: "The only completely consistent people are the dead."



True that, Aldous...but what's the point for the Living? To always be clever, no matter what?

...{SIGH}

Not that being consistent is the right thing to do all the time. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, I think: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."



Yes, it is the wise consistencies in people which are the golden gems. They make the world work. And they make it safer, more predictable, more reliable. And, that frees us up to do better things.



That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis!


Take RAIN, for example. All the drops are the same. We know what to expect. What if we had to dodge a bunch of different and unpredictable water bombs every time it rained?


And the athletes we love to watch. Tiger Woods nailed it when he said, "Consistency is the key to repeating success."



True but odd fact: I was a member of my college bowling team for a year. Even had a scholarship. My average was 151... not brilliant, but my performance was amazingly consistent, and that was enough to help my team win again and again.


Yes, consistency is a cookie-cutter kind of thing. It produces an assembly-line of reliable results. I like that in a person. My husband aka Hubs is one of the most consistent people I know. When I think back to why I grew to love him and why I decided to marry him, his consistent manner was a definite deal-maker. I lacked it and he had it, and what was important to him was that I valued it in him when past loves had called it "boring" and "predictable".

Funny how those things work, huh?

I was thinking the other day about my cyber-friend Linda, and I realized that among her many attributes is a marvelous consistency that I in awe of when I think about it. I'm guessing here, but I believe she makes it a priority in her life, to be consistent for her family, her crafting, her blogging, her friendships.

Kudos to you, Linda. You have a rare gift, a talent for consistency, that flourishes by virtue of hard work, discipline and commitment. It just shines through. I want you to know that it shines on me and warms my soul, dear friend.

This year I hope to explore stuff like this, stuff that doesn't often get examined. To me, it's part of re-assessing. And what better way to do that than to discover the little gems of gold that already lay before me in my own life!

What little gems lay before you on your path? I'd love to know!

I'm Finally Free!

I do apologize for my absence, but I just decided to go with my natural linear behavior and finish up my tax business paperwork before doing anything else. I think it might have been the only way it was ever gonna get done, LOL. I am finding that my ability to multi-task, a skill at which I used to excel, is slowly but surely ebbing from my bag 'o tricks.

Sometimes you just gotta work with what ya got left. In Texas, we say we gotta dance with who brung us. And I did. There will be a bit more paperwork later, but the ball of it is now in my buyer's court (quite literally, as it's all legal sale paperwork, winkwink).

I can now breathe and feel pretty darn free. The continual pressure of IRS deadlines and client expectations are now a thing of the past. YAY!

So, where does my mind go for comfort? To food, of course. LOL No, seriously, I've been wanting to share with you what we ate on New Years' Day, because it was just so pretty and colorful. Well, to me it was. And delicious.

Simple Southern "country" food. Nothing fancy. And remember, our wall oven is broken, so everything had to be chosen based upon if it could be cooked on the stovetop or in the toaster oven.

We also fixed that yummy cabbage coleslaw at Thanksgiving. It's my new favorite comfort food, and it's made with a package mix. Ham requires an oven, so we just chose another pork: breaded pork chop fillets. The cornbread did not taste quite as good as when we bake it in a cast-iron skillet in the wall oven, but the teflon pan toaster oven version was tasty enough. There's something about cornbread baked in grease that makes it perfect, I guess.

Thanks for letting me share (belatedly). Are ya hungry? winkwink

But anyway, that was our feast to ring in the new and to give us good luck and prosperity for another year. I never feel quite right not paying homage to that glorious food tradition, so now I can proceed with 2009.

Especially now that I only have one tax return to do every year from now on! Yay!

The life vision thing for 2009

First of all, a heartfelt wish to our military boys and girls in harm's way for a safe, peaceful, productive 2009.

Yes, 2009 is here now, and there seems to be two ways to look at it.

A new year: how exciting and promising -- an adventure with unlimited potential.

OR

Another year: might as well make the best of it.

Which sounds more familiar to you?

What if i told you that, around here, we accept both interpretations. lol

Why? Because, in reality, the truth of the thing is closer to both.

If you have any years under your belt, you know that the first approach is fraught with potential for a set-up for failure for most of us (except for the fabulous Tina Zarlenga and the equally fabu Sarah Coggins, both of whom I'd bet real money on to actually and consistently do the impossible -- they are incredibly energetic and self-disciplined women that I greatly admire, even though I have little understanding of what it is that makes them tick much faster than me...not even when I was younger did I have that much focused energy to complete so many things).

I kid about Tina and Sarah when I say that I privately suspect addiction to crack or something similar...to repeat, I'm kidding! It's just that I would have to literally be hooked up to an amphetamine IV in order to do half of what they get done, and then my lack of focus would sabotage even that. Anyway, hats off to you both, my friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you conquer this year.

As for Sarah, that goes double since she recently announced that she is expecting her first baby! This is such wonderful news! Congrats to her and hubby Trent.

And a little story on Tina: I read today she mentioned not meeting her goal of reading 100 books in 2008. OMG, did that ever make me eyeroll and chuckle. You see, I'm one of her friends over on Good Reads. I get emails when friends update their reading lists. Let me tell you, that girl updated her list more frequently than a squirrel finds nuts, all year long. She read over 50 books! That's about 1 a week. I think I might have read one the whole year...sigh.

I might kill to get that kind of energy back again. But until then I'll just live vicariously through them both.



Anyway, I'm going to try to just stick to making the best of 2009:

-->Accept what I can and cannot do.

-->Focus on doing the things that will accomplish the goals I've chosen, whenever possible, but remember that it doesn't always work that way.

-->No pie-in-the-sky goals, but stuff that will really make some sort of positive difference in my life.

For me, 2009 needs to be about adjusting to 2008 changes. I need to re-assess and re-calibrate:

-->I am right now working on completing the paperwork that will officially end my tax business and my SOHO-career in accounting. I cannot stress how big a change this is gonna be for me after 30 years of living my life around the IRS's filings and deadlines schedule, but it is a change I welcome with sheer gusto.

-->Ike caused some changes for us that we still need to deal with, namely to finish clearing debris in the back yard and to go through several big plastic bins in our garage that are full of stuff that was stored in our portable buildings that are now debris. Our city had to "hurry up and wait" until Congress appropriated more money to pick up debris, but they finally did. Removal begins again next week and throughout January. We will probably be getting right on that, since we are not being told exactly when the trucks will be on our street...lovely planning, huh? Guess I'd better call them...

-->Missy getting her own apartment in early December with much of our furniture caused changes. Good changes, but changes, nevertheless. I have decisions to make about new furniture, as well as a new room in the house to give a function to.

And, I am finding it very enjoyable. I frankly marvel at how frugal I naturally am. Here it is, the first time in my married life that I can buy outright whatever I want, yet I am firmly rooted in a "if it ain't broke, don't throw it out and replace it" mentality. I figure it's all good, cuz I can always buy it later if things change, right?

Still, I'm needing to move things around and make existing pieces work in new spots, and at the same time look good enough. And, had Missy stayed in the dorms, this would not be happening, and I'm happy she left the dorms. I'm happy to give her the furniture. This is forcing me to re-assess how things work and don't work around here. Plus, I am trying to include my ideas for decorating with all my little ideas, like the miniature trees I've been buying to hang paper pretties and ATC's and such.

-->Then, there is my weight loss and fitness. I go to a nutritionist 4 times a year, and she finally made me a believer of her approach to it. Basically, she preaches that if it took 5 years to gain 40 pounds, it's gonna take 5 years to take it off for good. Anything quicker, and it won't be for good. For the last 2 years, I've been a skeptical follower of this, and I can now say, I think she is right.

Case in point: in May, 2006, I was 80 pounds overweight: 40 of them slowly creeping on over 10-15 years time and the other 40 blobbed on in the immediately preceding 4 years (due to me being over-medicated for pain and depression after contracting my arthritii in 2002). I spent the rest of 2006 losing 30 pounds. And then I spent all of 2007 and 2008 holding the line on those 30 pounds. As of today, 25 of them are still off of me. (I gained 5 pounds over the holidays, which is a blessing considering what I've indulged in!)

This is almost exactly what my nutritionist says should happen: that without surgery, most people can lose only about 20-30 pounds at a time without "resting" and letting the body catch on and catch up. She says that we should have periods of maintenance within the weight loss process, or we are sabotaging ourselves. The body needs to re-learn the new weight and adjust daily metabolism and energy needs, and that takes time. Otherwise, that "fight or flight" thing activates and the body fights against you to reclaim those pounds.





I didn't just waste the last two years, but now it's probably safe to lose some more, slowly and surely. So, I'll be attempting to lose 20-30 more in the coming months. No, it's not much fun to realize that at this rate, it'll take me 4 more years at a minimum under her regime, but hey, if it works for good, I'm there. I just need to remember that all good things take time, and that Rome wasn't built in a day, get back on the horse that threw ya, etc, etc.

So, there you have it -- my stab at doing my life vision thing (aka resolutions) for 2009. Yikes, them's some big goals, and I was trying to not be over-reaching. And double-yikes, we still have some chocolate ice cream and cookies left. Oh, the temptations...teehee.

What is your life vision thing for 2009? I'd love to know!