Is that a verb, "face-booking"? I find myself wandering there frequently. Perhaps because it is so social in nature, finding out what is up with friends, etc., and that this blog is a labor in solitude. I'm not much for lots of solitude. With the Boy off to college in the fall, and the Girl a senior, and the Husband taking two classes online at a time, I had better get used to solitude. Might find something good out there as I try to escape the solitude, or I may just mold the solitude to me.
Had a brief discussion about discerning the will of God in your life over facebook. I have never quite gotten how one does that. I think that since it is something we have to figure out then God must be She, not He. Like I have expected my husband to know what was bothering me, even if I didn't tell him - he should know, as he and I like to joke, because "if you loved me..." you'd know! God seems to be like that. Go ahead, guess what I want from you. Well, I'm not a good guesser so now what?
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Report from Muggy Thursday
I just looked at the date of my last post - way back in May. I'm consistent in my inconsistent posting I suppose. Reaching? Sure. And your point is?
Went to a retirement seminar with the Husband (9 hours over three nights) that was offered free by my employer. Can we say wake up call? Some things I knew, like how we should have a will (we don't) and medical and day to day powers of attorney (ditto) but then we get to the stuff about how much we will need to live on when the time comes...whoa! Luckily we do participate in TIAA-CREFF, where the employer puts in money and you put in money and then it is invested in various options and grows (hopefully) Anyhoo, he advocates making the maximum contribution every year that you can make (an additional 20,000 per year is the max) and I said to myself, does he know who we work for? There is no spare $20,000 hanging around my house, I can tell you that. But it did get us thinking, which we have to do, and the Husband has bought in to it, which is good as well. Now we just gotta get us a Roth IRA...
There's an awful lot of trust involved in planning for retirement, and not just living trusts, etc. If you are in a committed relationship where your finances are entwined, and then you are no longer, you're in trouble. I see the divorces that happen to folks after thirty years can have real devastating consequences for retirement. So I guess your last partner better be your best partner!
I joined facebook at a friend's invitation, and I can see why people get hooked on the computer. That alone could be absorbing, but if you have a blog as well, and are doing im (I don't), and etc, etc, etc, - the information highway can take you for a very long and absorbing ride. So ends the rants of the old lady.
Got to go put my feet up. Heat and humidity and not enough fluids and lots of sitting at the keyboard equals ankles the size of...well, way bigger than they ought to be.
Went to a retirement seminar with the Husband (9 hours over three nights) that was offered free by my employer. Can we say wake up call? Some things I knew, like how we should have a will (we don't) and medical and day to day powers of attorney (ditto) but then we get to the stuff about how much we will need to live on when the time comes...whoa! Luckily we do participate in TIAA-CREFF, where the employer puts in money and you put in money and then it is invested in various options and grows (hopefully) Anyhoo, he advocates making the maximum contribution every year that you can make (an additional 20,000 per year is the max) and I said to myself, does he know who we work for? There is no spare $20,000 hanging around my house, I can tell you that. But it did get us thinking, which we have to do, and the Husband has bought in to it, which is good as well. Now we just gotta get us a Roth IRA...
There's an awful lot of trust involved in planning for retirement, and not just living trusts, etc. If you are in a committed relationship where your finances are entwined, and then you are no longer, you're in trouble. I see the divorces that happen to folks after thirty years can have real devastating consequences for retirement. So I guess your last partner better be your best partner!
I joined facebook at a friend's invitation, and I can see why people get hooked on the computer. That alone could be absorbing, but if you have a blog as well, and are doing im (I don't), and etc, etc, etc, - the information highway can take you for a very long and absorbing ride. So ends the rants of the old lady.
Got to go put my feet up. Heat and humidity and not enough fluids and lots of sitting at the keyboard equals ankles the size of...well, way bigger than they ought to be.
Friday, May 25, 2007
So what
So what? I'd like that to be my mantra, but it isn't. Would really like to run away. Can't stand just about everyone. Oh, and the tests are in, menopause is here, in a big way. Woo woo. Maybe that explains things. Then again, do I care? I must say, when I first found out, I was excited and felt empowered. I have no idea why. It has been downhill since then. I have no idea why. But if I could be independently wealthy, quit my job, buy a new house and several hybrid cars, and hire a cook like Oprah (the real secret to the times she has lost weight) I would be all set.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Just another Thursday evening
Heard the "M" word today: Muggy. It finally hit the am weathercast. I hate muggy. I'm sure they exist, but I don't believe I know anyone who likes it. Of course, there may be closet muggy lovers out there...stand up, speak up, muggy lovers! I grew up with muggy, I know muggy. Spent 1 1/2 years in the Philippines, where there's an entire muggy season.
Tomorrow is movie night, just us girls. The Daughter has been planning this since the Dad left to go do a week of Katrina relief in Mississippi. Apparently we need to eat Chinese food and junk food and she is expecting me to stay awake for 4 video's. Don't know if that is going to happen!
Tomorrow is movie night, just us girls. The Daughter has been planning this since the Dad left to go do a week of Katrina relief in Mississippi. Apparently we need to eat Chinese food and junk food and she is expecting me to stay awake for 4 video's. Don't know if that is going to happen!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Moanin and groanin
Sometimes things just suck. The last few days have kinda sucked. My shoulder has been really bad, and the cortisone shot was not fun. Not the shot, hell, I give myself a weekly injection that stings more, no, the THUMB. The dr. had to stretch out my arm and then press really REALLY hard on my shoulder to get the right spot. Tears came. "That was just my thumb" said the dr., thinking I had reacted to the shot that hadn't yet come. No you idiot, that's exactly the problem, your damn thumb. Not that I told him. Should've. He can take it. Has a good sense of humor. Then we parted ways, and because I had cried and was trying not to cry anymore, at least until I got outside, there was no real end to the appointment. I stood at the desk like an idiot, trying not to look at anyone so they wouldn't see my face, and he went off to the next patient. Kind of like in the movies when the couple has regrets and everybody just slinks away.
As long as I'm going on about stuff bothering me, I hate Mother's Day. Enuf said.
This hasn't been enlightening or insightful. Just a lot of grumping. Well, sometimes you've got to grump. Sometimes I don't want to think about the people that have it worse than I do, I just want to have a little pity party for me. So today I'm having it in bloggerville.
As long as I'm going on about stuff bothering me, I hate Mother's Day. Enuf said.
This hasn't been enlightening or insightful. Just a lot of grumping. Well, sometimes you've got to grump. Sometimes I don't want to think about the people that have it worse than I do, I just want to have a little pity party for me. So today I'm having it in bloggerville.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Windy City and back
Just back from Chicago. Went to an annual meeting of a users group for the system we use at work. Eh, not such a great conference, and oh, by the way, since the company was bought out by another company, there won't be a users group, at least the way there has been in the past. Not many improvements to our system either. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
The hotel, however, was another matter. Brand new, still a few kinks, but neat things like aroma therapy scents in the common areas, not overpowering, but nice. High def tv, that the Husband loved, and a tv in the mirror in the bathroom - yes, you heard right, in the bathroom mirror. When the mirror fogged up, the tv was still clear, and there was a rectangular clear space in the middle. Odd and interesting feature. Thought it odd that the whole mirror didn't stay clear.
We were supposed to go hear the Girl sing with her choir Saturday. They were doing the children's chorus parts of Britten's War Requiem. They sang at Symphony Hall in Boston on Friday. We were in Chicago, and were expecting to hear them at in a local performance on Saturday. Climbed all the way up to the second balconey, my 84 year old mother in law climbed all the stairs, sat in a very overheated section where the kids were, only to have the poor kid have to leave because of a headache. Poor thing. I'm sorry we didn't hear it, but relieved to be out of that heat - it was that oppressive.
Today we went to hear the Boy's last high school concert. My nephew played in the band in the first half. The Boy sang with the chorus, and had a solo. He sang "Some Enchanted Evening". Proud mom. Proud Aunt.
The hotel, however, was another matter. Brand new, still a few kinks, but neat things like aroma therapy scents in the common areas, not overpowering, but nice. High def tv, that the Husband loved, and a tv in the mirror in the bathroom - yes, you heard right, in the bathroom mirror. When the mirror fogged up, the tv was still clear, and there was a rectangular clear space in the middle. Odd and interesting feature. Thought it odd that the whole mirror didn't stay clear.
We were supposed to go hear the Girl sing with her choir Saturday. They were doing the children's chorus parts of Britten's War Requiem. They sang at Symphony Hall in Boston on Friday. We were in Chicago, and were expecting to hear them at in a local performance on Saturday. Climbed all the way up to the second balconey, my 84 year old mother in law climbed all the stairs, sat in a very overheated section where the kids were, only to have the poor kid have to leave because of a headache. Poor thing. I'm sorry we didn't hear it, but relieved to be out of that heat - it was that oppressive.
Today we went to hear the Boy's last high school concert. My nephew played in the band in the first half. The Boy sang with the chorus, and had a solo. He sang "Some Enchanted Evening". Proud mom. Proud Aunt.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Saturday musings
Fell asleep on the loveseat (again) last night. Lights out before 9:30. Oh to be young again! Woke up way earlier than usual (4:30 am, or as the Husband, a.k.a. the Dad, calls it, "O Dark Thirty"), and earlier than I had to be.
Realized that I had forgotten my injection. Once a week I get to stick myself with 50 mg. of Enbrel, as well as ingesting 25 mg of methotrexate, either of which can give me liver damage or lymphoma. Sound like fun yet? The injection itself doesn't hurt, but the drug? Well, it sucks. Burns and stings like hell. Apparently they have to make it more acidic in order to give it a longer shelf life. Oh, and the injections have to be refrigerated, and that makes travel just that much more fun. I used to swear when I did it. F, F, F, you get the picture. Then I had some epiphany, and decided that if I tried to relax (not so easy) and if I said the Our Father, Protestant edition with the "for Thine is the Kingdom...etc. it takes just long enough to get me through the entire injection. Still stings, but works much better. Apparently, I also realized I have to have privacy to do it. I don't have any places where the Husband and I haven't pretty much gone in terms of full disclosure (he emptied bedpans during my labor with our second kid, can't get much more open than that) but this thing is different. I need to be alone. Don't quite know why, but it hasn't worked out as well if he's been around. So now I go it alone.
Why do I sadistically abuse myself with dangerous drugs? I have Psoriatic Arthritis, among other medical issues) which means I get to have two, two, two autoimmune diseases in one! The joy and fun of itchy, ugly patches of skin that make swimming in public less about how the big fat body looks in the suit and more about "will they think it's contagious and ask me to leave?" Responding to comments about poison ivy, (no it's not), and well meaning "does it hurt?"remarks (sometimes I want to crawl out of my skin, but thanks for asking) . Shopping becomes a search for 3/4 length sleeves, unless it is bad and has migrated to my hands. Then forget it all. Oh, and the skin part is also affected by stress. Stress!!! Just having the disease is stressful!
Then there is the systemic arthritis part. Sometimes, sure, there's pain, and my knees have taken turns blowing up with fluid, and there are problems with the tendon sheaths in my hands. But almost rather have that than the skin part. Much more socially acceptable.
I need to keep on top of the medication because it is an autoimmune disease, my body is destroying its connective tissue. Even if there isn't any pain, the destruction of the joints can take place.
Some day I will bore you all with my other medical issues (and there are a few) but I think I brought this beautiful and finally sunny day down low enough. I will go and work on Happy Thoughts. You do the same.
Realized that I had forgotten my injection. Once a week I get to stick myself with 50 mg. of Enbrel, as well as ingesting 25 mg of methotrexate, either of which can give me liver damage or lymphoma. Sound like fun yet? The injection itself doesn't hurt, but the drug? Well, it sucks. Burns and stings like hell. Apparently they have to make it more acidic in order to give it a longer shelf life. Oh, and the injections have to be refrigerated, and that makes travel just that much more fun. I used to swear when I did it. F, F, F, you get the picture. Then I had some epiphany, and decided that if I tried to relax (not so easy) and if I said the Our Father, Protestant edition with the "for Thine is the Kingdom...etc. it takes just long enough to get me through the entire injection. Still stings, but works much better. Apparently, I also realized I have to have privacy to do it. I don't have any places where the Husband and I haven't pretty much gone in terms of full disclosure (he emptied bedpans during my labor with our second kid, can't get much more open than that) but this thing is different. I need to be alone. Don't quite know why, but it hasn't worked out as well if he's been around. So now I go it alone.
Why do I sadistically abuse myself with dangerous drugs? I have Psoriatic Arthritis, among other medical issues) which means I get to have two, two, two autoimmune diseases in one! The joy and fun of itchy, ugly patches of skin that make swimming in public less about how the big fat body looks in the suit and more about "will they think it's contagious and ask me to leave?" Responding to comments about poison ivy, (no it's not), and well meaning "does it hurt?"remarks (sometimes I want to crawl out of my skin, but thanks for asking) . Shopping becomes a search for 3/4 length sleeves, unless it is bad and has migrated to my hands. Then forget it all. Oh, and the skin part is also affected by stress. Stress!!! Just having the disease is stressful!
Then there is the systemic arthritis part. Sometimes, sure, there's pain, and my knees have taken turns blowing up with fluid, and there are problems with the tendon sheaths in my hands. But almost rather have that than the skin part. Much more socially acceptable.
I need to keep on top of the medication because it is an autoimmune disease, my body is destroying its connective tissue. Even if there isn't any pain, the destruction of the joints can take place.
Some day I will bore you all with my other medical issues (and there are a few) but I think I brought this beautiful and finally sunny day down low enough. I will go and work on Happy Thoughts. You do the same.
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