Healthcare

I was driving home today listening to NPR.. (i love listening to NPR, I wish I could get it on my work computer, but alas, the place of work would rather have me listening to my ipod) and they were reporting on what our great Governor here in Georgia wants to do help health care.
His plan was to invest more in to Health Savings plans with High deductibles. He thinks this will help people take better care of them selves and therefor reduce the amount of monies spent on health care.
I am sure that having Health Savings plans would reduce the over all costs off health care not because people take better care of them selves, but because they would go to the doctors less! or just not deal with issues until the issues are acute.
Because taking 'better care of your self' will get rid of all your health issues.. Because you know.. eating more salmon.. and exercising daily would of stop the thyroid cancer and gallstones before the age of 30? Or maybe just genetics...

I am all for people taking more responsibility for them selves and their health.. but to say that people taking better care of them selves will solve the health care issues is BS

Church

The church I go to is a pretty important part of my life. I volunteer in a couple different areas.. Wamba (the preschool/day care environment while services are going on) I am a small group leader, and I am trying to go on a trip to Mexico with the church late spring. I go to Buckhead Church. It is a non denomination christian church that strives to create relevant environments that really speak to people who view them selves as 'non church people'.

Right my my favorite place is Wamba land. I am a lead teacher in the Babies room. Essentially, I wrangle babies for an hour. Some of the other Wamba land people tell me they like the kids older because they have more personality. But you have the same babies for a couple weeks, they get to know you, and when they see you they smile, and when they are tired the snuggle into your shoulders. And they are too sweet. It is that sweetness that makes the stinky diapers and the babies that don't stop crying seem less big.

If you happen to read this, check them out.
buckheadchurch.org.

2 failures

I have been in a cooking mood recently. I am trying to eat better, and watch my salt in take, and not eat out so much.

On Sunday, I made stew, and it is great, if I say so my self. And it made enough to have for lunch all week. So my lunch this week is stew and a bag of carrots. Very yummy.

But my 2 failures have come on chocolate cookies. Last night, I started to make the cookies and I realized I did not have enough brown sugar, so I just substitute white sugar. And that made the cookies strangely not coherent. They just ell apart.

And tonight, I attempt to make chocolate cookies again... But tonight, I used you can't believe its not butter, and trust me, I can believe it is not butter. The cookies turned out fluffy and bland.

I guess this means that God does not want me eating cookies right now.

Cleaning

Yesterday I did some major cleaning. I scrubbed and reorganized everything for about 7 hours. The main reason it took so long was that I reorganized all my clothes and I bagged 9 bags full of clothes that I need to donate.

Here is the pile before I started.

6 hours later I had this.

Now I just have to go to the Good Will and donate the piles. Unfortunately, I wont have time to do this until this weekend, so I will have to put up the the garage bags piled up in the corner all week. :(

two more years

I like to donate blood yearly. I have O+, which they love to get. I am a universal donor. Everyone can have O+. But O+ can only have O+. Donating blood makes me feels like I am helping other people with a minimum effort. One time I even did apheresis (donated platelets and plasma and they give you back the red blood cells)

Before the past couple years, the only year I went with out giving blood was the year I got the tattoo. And as soon as that year was over, I gave blood.

Then I got stupid thyroid Cancer, and I have been on a 5 year waiting period. Which if you think about it, it is silly. Thyroid Cancer is slow growing, and it had already spread to my lymph nodes, so I probably had it for years before they found it. And all those years I donated blood, and no one had a problem with it. Maybe they are waiting for any potential issues from the radiation? And if my blood is not good, how come I am not sick? Any ways , just a vent as today is the 3rd anniversary of finding out about it.

And that is a fun story in it self. It took 2 weeks for the pathology to come back. Before surgery, the doctor had told me that it would take about a week. But evidently he told me and my parents that it could take up to 2 weeks if it had to be sent to a specialist and I guess he thought that it would need to go to a specialist. I think this was told when I was a bit high from the anesthesia, as I don't remember. So by the time the the pathology came back I was back at work, and in the full swing of things at work. But I had my phone with me at all times, as no one wants to find out via voice mail that you have cancer.
And I remember that I had a whole plan on when the doctors office would call. I forget the exact timeline I though they would follow. And of course they did not follow my timeline. It was close to 4 in the afternoon, and in my mind the doctor's office would not call that late, so I thought I was safe for the day. And I was actually on a conference training call that I was leading. And then my phone rang and I saw that it was my doctor's office. And well, they told me it was cancerous. Well, she use the word malignant, not Cancer. And I remember, it honestly felt like my blood flowed backwards when she told me. Even though I had been trying to get ready to hear that statement for 2 months, it was still a shock. If I am ever diagnosed with cancer again, it will be a shock again.
I cannot imagine what the clients that I was training thought. As I got back on the phone and basically bye, Roy will finish training. I was on IM with Roy (a coworker) and said that I had an emergency and I would talk with him later.) I actually meet the clients later that year, and they commented on my lovely scar (back then it was very visible) and I was like, yeah.. that scar is why the website took a couple extra months to roll out.. sorry.

Don't hit the grave!

We have had snow here twice this week.. which is unusual for Atlanta.. so I took some pictures that you will only see in Decatur.

That is a palm tree covered in snow. Now, there are not that many palm trees in Atlanta area. My street has about 6. But we are kinda at the bottom of a hill and it is kinda protected down here I guess. The legend is that the guy that built the original house on the street was a really interested in unique plants. And palm trees in Atlanta are unique.

The other unique site I saw was people sledding in the cemetery. I tell people all the time that people use the cemetery as a park and the below pictures will prove that. It was pretty weird to see it live, it is not every day you see people frolicking amongst the graves. I heard on mom yell out, Don't hit the grave!

For being a such a snowy day, I have not been home much.. I went to the gym for a step class at 8:30 and then to Kroger where I participated in the Atlanta tradition of running to the grocery store when snow starts to fall. I then went out to lunch with my parents and JK who was in town to see my parents house finished. We got all caught up with his upcoming move to Norway.

And then when I got home, I ran into a neighbor who told me about the sledding, and I had to check that out. So now I am home, and I am really going to enjoy making stew and cleaning , and bundling up for a cold night. And church was cancelled, so I can sleep in late tomorrow. YAY!

Killing Time

I am meeting some friends at Trivia tonight, up by work. And since I live so far from where I work, I am killing time at the Smyrna public library. My original plan was just to go to Target or Barnes and Noble to kill time.. but if i went to a store, I would spend money... and I am trying to be better about random shopping. Only shopping with a purpose for me for now on. :)

So I am here at the library killing time. And my I say, this is a nice library! Back before I took the plunge and got my self a home PC I would have to go the library to check my email as work blocks places like hotmail, and yahoo mail and Gmail.. (annoying.. but a good business idea.) And at the library by home I would have to sign a waiting list and wait with the rest of the non computer owning rift raft.. and trust me.. there was some in that line. I would wait up to 45 mins during prime time to log in and see that I got 2 new emails.. not a very efficient use of my time.. but I did feel like I was a member of a select library Internet using society.

Then one day, I realized I could get my emails on my phone! and what a glorious day that was! No longer did I live in wonder about what people were emailing me. But responding to emails was a bit hard on the phone as i am not proficient on the 9 digit text writing. My emails looked like something e.e. cummings would write. All lower case

(example)

anyone lived in a pretty how town begins
anyone lived in a pretty how town

(with up so floating many bells down)

spring summer autumn winter

he sang his didn't he danced his did
Women and men

(both little and small)

cared for anyone not at all

they sowed their isn't they reaped their same

sun moon stars rain

(why is it that most people remember ee cummings from school? I don't remember the styling of any other poet I studied.. not that I studied many.

So every once in a while I would have to go the library, because I needed to actually write a coherent sentence back, and the only time I could go with out waiting in line was Saturday morning. So I would get out of bed and go to the library at 9 AM.. and log in and have my 30 mins of Internet time and ask my self the question.. why am I too cheap to buy a computer?

That question go to loud for me.. and now I love my computer! This weekend I think I am going to buy a new digital camera, so I can enjoy it even more.

why did I wait so long?

Computer Hat

I am a headache person. Meaning, I get lots of headaches. I am much better at controlling them now, compared to say, high school. But I still get my fair share. A former co worker bought me a big bottle of ibuprofen once, just so I would stop asking her for extra pills.

My current headache causer is the glare from my screen at work. Where my computer is now, it is especially bad because I get the light and the glare from outside, but only from the glare from my screen. It kills my eyes. By the end of the week, I have to sit there with my eyes closed.

So I have made a 'hat' for my computer.

The place of work could solve this issue by spending 30 dollars on a anti glare screen, or by giving me a screen that was made in this century. But no.

So, I wanted to show you all that may read this, a picture of my monitor hat.

Saturday afternoon walk

I live next door to a cemetery. It is a real cemetery.. what one would call a Victorian-style cemetery like Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. My cemetery is not nearly as cool as Oakland, but it is still a good example of cemeteries used to be. It is actually not that creepy to live next door to a cemetery. Only once did I hear some strange noises coming from the cemetery, and I think it was just a cat fight. (at least that is what I tell my self now, but the night of the 'cat fight' I was in bed thinking, I will not look out the window, I will not look the window. The "cats" were making the eeriest sounds that sounded human) Usually it is is just very quiet, which is good.

It actually borders a park a park on one side and there is a path from the parking lot of the park to the cemetery. There are always people walking, running or biking around the cemetery, you just need to make sure you watch out for funerals, as it is an active cemetery.

My one favorite factoid that I learned from the cemetery is that Dorkus is a real name. You have to look real close as the head stone is dated 1944, but her name is Dorcus. If you ever want to find a unique name, go to a cemetery.

Walking around a cemetery has confirmed on fact for me. That I want to be cremated when I die many many many decades from now. The main reason for this is that it is lonely in a cemetery. Most graves are not visited, they just sit there in memory of past lives. And it is not an active memory, it is just a stone with your name on it. I want to live in the memories of my family and friends as a funny story or a good memory, not a rock. So cremate me please.

Sorry for the dark turn there, but leak bile for a couple days, and you too will have a firm plan for what comes next.

Stories

People have told me that I have a funny way of telling stories. My party cube mates think I am the funniest person every, so I am going to see if I can make any of them fun on paper, so to speak.

The stories I am working on writing about include:

Being in Fires
Riding the Short Bus
Being attacked by the Crazy Homeless man
Cancer


Now, the above list, when I write them down, does not seem funny at all. But I always have people laughing when I tell them. Once I asked why my being attacked by a crazy homeless man made him laughed, he said it was due to my tone and body language. So I have no idea if it will translate. But I want to give it a try.

Picky Eater

I thought that MacBeth was getting sick.. She was barely touching her food, and was getting skinny. Then I realized that she is just a picky eater. She will take a couple bits of dry food and then just meow until I sit down. I guess she figures that I wont feed her when I am sitting down. The only time she eats more then a couple bits is when I give her wet food. Silly cat. Tonight she is going to be a bit hungry, because I forgot to go the store.

The gym

So I had a choice tonight.. the gym or clean. All day long I told my self I would go to the gym.. then at 4 today I started thinking I should clean.. and then I left work and the gym won. But now I am procrastinating at home.. Even though I did resist the urge to get food on the way home and I had a delicious lean cuisine pizza and carrots for dinner. So I guess I will get off this computer, because I have responded all emails and sent out all my bills.. and I am really doing nothing but writing here..
So cleaning, here I come.

resolutions

Technically, I made my goals before the start of the new year..but since it was so close and people asked me if I had made any resolutions, I have been telling them my goals.. So I am trying to keep myself honest about how I am doing. So here is my update.

I am doing much better about not saying 'Sons of Bitches'. I was saying that phrase far to often.. Now the only time I say it is when I tell people what my resolutions are.

I did go the gym 4 times last week.. and that was good.. but I skipped today.. But I have decided that I will start counting the week on Sunday, so even skipping today, I got to my 4 times a week goal. And I was proud of that, because on Wednesday I did not not feel well at all. My stomach was all wonky.

Clean more often. I could be doing better. But I hate cleaning when I get home.

Do my daily bible study. Horrible. I need to catch up on that tommorrow.

Next week the one I need to work on the most in the daily bible study thing I bought.

A Condition

My Mom's friend called the other day to see if I could call her niece that had the same 'condition' that I had. And when she called back to say thanks for me talking to her niece, she referred to my 'thyroid condition' again. I wanted to shout.. I did not have a condition. That sounds like I had a cold or the flu or something. I had cancer.. it has a name, and I understand that it is a scarier thing to say. Trust me when I say, it is scarier to have it..
This is probably the time of year that I think the most about thyroid cancer, as I had the surgeries in Jan 05.

Happy New Years!

So last night I went out with L and N and Ls neighbors to Loca Luna. I enjoy Local Luna.. they have great music, and tapas are always fun.
But going out on New Years reinforced the fact that I am not a huge fan of going out on New Years Eve. There was a 30 dollar cover and that got me a couple sips of Champagne.. or more then likely bubbly wine. It was pretty crowded.. which was fine. We got a table about 11:30.. .But dude.. it was chilly in there. Loca Luna is much better is the summer.. because it tries to have like a outdoor feeling.. which is fun when it is 80 degrees outside.. but not so much when it is when it is 30 degrees outside. But they have great food. My only gripe of the evening was it took forever to get the bill.. and L's friends had gone to listen to music to and had not left money for the bill.. and for a while I sat there talking with N and L which was great fun. But then they had to go to the bathroom and L offered to leave her credit card, but the I encourgaged her not too. and they came back for the bill..
The one part of the evening that kinda annoyed me was that L's friends never came back.. and I wanted to get up and watch listen to the music and dance.. so when the bill came I got up and went to go find every one.. which probably came off as a bit angery.. but i was annoyed.. it was cold and i was getting bored.. and I was a bit tired because I worked that morning.
All and all, it was fun to go out for New Years for a change, but I am a bit jealous of K who spent the night at home with her dog reading Harry Potter.