I almost hate to say this

But it has been over a month since Rick had a A-fib attack.  The new medicine is working.  Not the new scary medicine, he went off that, but the new less scary medicine.  I almost am afraid to hope it will keep working.  Today while I sleep he is at the heart center getting a stress echo and treadmill.  Lets keep your fingers crossed shall we.   Night all.

How Come?

  How come Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger can admit to stealing classified documents and destroying copies of a classified document about the Clinton administration's record on terrorism and just get a slap on the hand?  You know were if it was any of us that had done something like that..... Prison and rightly so. 

    I am so tired of elected officials being above the law.  They can lie under oath, steal documents, sell military secrets, and it seems like no one cares.  I even heard someone say he just got sloppy,  SLOPPY! Oh darn, when I get sloppy I spill some milk, I don't destroy classified documents.  And how many of the prisoners imprisoned for stealing classified documents wish that had been said about them?  Now if Bush had done this they would be screaming IMPEACHMENT.  OFF WITH HIS HEAD.  And rightly so.  So why does Sandy Berger get a slap on the hand.  What was he covering up?  That his administration did knew and did nothing?  I think we already knew that.

   Well on that rave I am off to work.  Sometimes I just get triggered listening to the news.  But I ask you.  What would happen if I took medical records.  I would be fired.  And it would be right.

, Winter Solstice

Yah, after today the days will get longer.  Then before you know it it will be spring and bike riding season again.  And I will be happy.  Raise your glass in a toast today, make mine water, to the shortest day of the year.

                                    

No snow, no ice

            

    The only snow I want to see is in the graphic above.    My son always wanted snow every year.  Getting him to shovel the snow though was another matter.  To children snow means sledding, hot cocoa, snow ball fights...... to adults snow means risking a heart attack shoveling, wet muddy floors, higher heating costs, and snow ball fights.   I mean no matter how old I get who can pass up a good snow ball fight.  But.....I could live without it.  It has rained steady since yesterday.  But stayed above 30 so no freezing.  And I am a happy camper about that.

  Today is the start of my long stretch made longer by my forced extra shift next Thursday.   However...... this will be the 3rd check of the month.  That means a check that they didn't have to take all the insurances out of.  Kind of a free nice big end of the year check with the added bonus of a Christmas holiday pay on it.  Now that is a good thing.

   Saturday and Sunday we are having the potlucks and gift exchanges at work.  I got an email today saying the gift certificate got mailed out on the 19th.  Should make it here by when I need it.  The post office will have some splaining to do if it doesn't come.

   By now you all probably have all your gifts wrapped and cookies baked right?  I know one family that does all their Christmas shopping the day after Christmas.  Saves them a ton of money and then they celebrate afterward also.  OK, now that just seems way to tight too me.  Practical yes, but I bet this is the same person who sticks all the jam containers in her purse from the table so that when you sit down next its gone.  Takes the toilet paper from the stall you will go to next, carefully opens every package so she can reuse the paper instead of ripping and tearing to her hearts content.  Me?  I never want to step inside another mall or store for the next 2 months. Presents, let me at em, rip and tear and for empty rolls of cardboardwhen the paper is gone, I have Zoey.  She loves to tear them into small pieces that fit easily into the garbage.  It is her only job around her but an important one she takes seriously and with a happy wagging tail.

    If your traveling this weekend, please be careful.  Make this a safe holiday.  If I have no patients in the hospital to take care of that will be fine with me.  Be safe all.

Driven to Drink!

                       

I love my MIL, I do, I do, I do....Hummmmmmm.............. I love my MIL. Say it 100 times a day and it is true. Spend the afternoon making Medisterpølse with her and you may need to remind yourself of that fact often. I now know more about my MIL bowels then I ever, and I repeat EVER wanted to know. Trust me. This nurse does not want to know what your stools look like on her day off. I don't want to know how often you go, how hard it is for you to go, how many days it has been since you went and all the suffering you went through before you go to that point. Did she do any of the 500 suggestions I have given her for the last 33 years to alieviate her discomfort? Take any of the safe laxatives I so lovingly researched, printed off and gave to her? Did she even try to increase her fruit and do more then lay on the couch? NOOOOOOOOOOO.

Check out our sausage making pictures, Maybe it is that that makes her think about her bowel, how could you not think about your bowel doing this, or something sexual which is what my husband thinks about. Caution, graphic sausage making pictures included.

She is going to the doctors tomorrow......again......... What are you going to tell him I ask? Are you going to be straight to the point or do the type of rambling dialogue that so drives me absolutely crazy? What do you mean she asks. OK, take this mornings phone call. I will print it verbatim:

Ummmm, Julie, I am in alot of pain this morning and and I took a pill and it didn't help and tried to go to the bathroom and I felt like I needed to go and I couldn't and I put in one of those glycerin things and I finally went but its.... but...hummmm.....and I wanted to talk to you before you went to the store, but....so call me will you before you go to the store. Say What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you make any sense of that conversation? What are you going to tell the doctor in the morning I ask?

That my back hurts really bad.....OK Good

That I am constipated.......Good.

That my arm hurts and I have chigger bites, and my thumb hurts and my heart pounds and my head hurts and I can't sleep and I my toe hurts and my lungs hurt and my.....................

Write it down, write it all down and give your doctor a list.

So later at the bar, sipping on a nice Bully Porter. Feeling like a terrible DIL because my sweet MIL is driving me to drink. And answering the phone...... Julie?????????? What did you want me to tell the doctor tomorrow????????????

Excuse me, could I have one more porter please.....................

                   

Gee, it is Winter? Darn

                

     It is suppose to rain, then snow, rain then snow eventually creating a 1/2" thick layer of ice today.  Oh Goody!  We make sausages today.  My son drives 30 miles away to work today.  I don't want a white Christmas....really...... green would be just fine.  My sister lives in Hawaii, I want a tropical Christmas too.  Blue oceans, palm trees swaying, warm breeze.   Opening my gifts on the La Nai and saying Mele Kalikimaka & Hauoli Makahiki Hou.  Now thats what I'm talking about......  Sigh.  I can dream can't I.

    Yesterday my MIL came over to eat.  It makes me sad to see how much she is slipping these days.  She is getting so forgetful and frail looking.  For some reason getting her out of her house always makes it worse.  She is better surrounded by her things, things that are familiar.  I do think the time is coming when it isn't safe for her to be home alone. 

    We plan on having her move into our spare bedroom.  I know it will be hard on her to be here with me as a night worker.  Since my son still lives at home he sleeps during the day also.  Rick will have to keep her occupied and stimulated.  Plus closing down her huge house will be a nightmare. 

   This is my last night off.  I have to get to the store and get the stuff for the sausages and my potlucks this weekend.  I have until Saturday to get my gift certificate so I sure hope it arrives in time.

   I hate going to the stores this time of year.  The people running around spending money they don't have.  Buying gifts people really don't need.  Just grabbing anything so you have a gift to give.  This time of year is when people get singing plastic fish, rocking santa's, and assorted gift packs.  Pulling out the plastic to pay for gifts when they can't afford to pay for gas and can barely make ends meet.  The worry look on some parents face. Why.  Why did this season start to stand for this?

  When I was young we had smaller gift givings.  I got new PJ's and a couple of gifts, usually a new barbie and one of the ladies from church made wonderful barbie doll clothes so I got some great outfits.  We got one family gift, usually a game or one year a record player.  We kids would exchange gifts but we usually wrapped up something of ours and exchanged it.  I would give my younger sisters something of mine they really liked, usually some of my hair ties or barbie dolls clothes.  We pulled taffy, made cookies and had a good supper.  It was plenty.  Mom got her robe from us.  I never felt shorted.

   When Rick and I got married we made very little.  He had so many relatives I was shocked and they all exchanged gifts.  Lots of time home made gifts which was cool.  One year I made homemade cheese cakes and braided breads and gave as gifts,  boy did that go over well, then next year they were disappointed I didn't cook, LOL.  Anyway things slowly started to get more extravagant.  I started buying my sons way more then I ever got as a child.  Spending lots more then I intended to.  Why?  Because their friends always got so much I wanted my kids to say they got as much also,  now my son buys his children twice as much as we bought them.  When will it end. 

    But I can't stop.  My husband says lets not exchange gifts anymore.  We usually just buy things when we need them.  My youngest son could care less.  Just buy for the grandkids.  Just spend the day together and have a traditional meal, no worries, no mess.... but I can't.  No gifts for my loved ones under the tree.  No joy of watching them see what I got them. Ugg slippers for my husband that cost a fortune but what he has wanted for a long time.  A great art book for my son I know he will love.

   I know I am not alone in this.  Right, right.  But.....the childrens faces looking at the toys and dreaming,  sitting on Santa's lap, looking with awe at the lights on the houses.  That is so special.  For the children this is still a magical special day.  For me too but for the real reason.  Go out and look at the night sky, thinking about that night long long ago.  That makes it magical for me, and special.

                                    

Anyone having trouble with Beta this morning?

When I try to open my journal in the Beta version it won't open.  I can still open it in the old way.  Anyone else having trouble this morning?

 

Ok, I went to Jeffs, the journal editors page and it seems like Beta isn't going to work anymore, why were we encouraged to switch then?  So now I have to go back to my old journal to post from now on.  Thank goodness I saved the link and I can't get in the journal using the old link.  Which means any new readers to this journal will probably not be able to get in to this journal which just plain ticks me off.  Just leave well enough aloneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.