Thursday-11:15am

Karma spent most of the day inside of the clothing rack--big surprise--hehe!

I kept plugging away on the birthday cards and finally finished them last night! TaDa!!
I got the clothes switched for summer.

I have some thank you cards to make next. And then next week--probably Tuesday again--Leah and I are planning on starting with the making of our red handmade paper for our Christmas cards.

Caroline called and she is still down with the flu. Doesn't think it is the swine flu, tho. So she'll come next Tuesday instead--if she's well, of course.

So--what's on the agenda for today? Thank you cards! :)

Wednesday-5:30pm

Leah came over for crafts. Made a wedding card (and I forgot to get a picture--sorry!) and helped me get my clothing rack down to my apartment from the storage room. Twice a year. Karma gets excited to jump inside, of course.

So, I have to switch the summer and winter clothes again. :)

I have slowly been constructing the birthday cards.
Slept a split shift last night. Fell asleep by 8pm and was up at 1am. Then was back in bed at 7:30am and slept till 1:30pm. Strange hours. Oh well. Slept well. It's a dreary, dark, rainy day today. Was good sleeping weather, but has done nothing for my motivation--hehe! Feels like one of those lazy days. :) Maybe I'll get more done tomorrow--hehe!

Tuesday-10:30am

Was one of those puttering days. I washed clothes, balanced the checkbook, figured out the budget and bills for May, worked on the grocery order for May, caught up on half of my emails, made up 3 months of my weekly schedules, read magazines, finished a book, and baked a cake. The day flew by and I felt satisfied that I had gotten quite a bit done at the end of the day. :)

Karma was sprawled under the art table. I snapped a picture...

...and then it was like she had to acknowledge that I was looking at her--so she pawed the wall pretending not to notice me. Do you think she is starting to perform for the camera? hehe!
Caroline just called and she's sick. Went to bed feeling fine and has been in the bathroom all morning, poor thing. We'll reschedule. (Hope she doesn't have any friends who went to Mexico for spring break!?)

So, I am going to call Leah and tell her she can come over any time today to make her wedding card. Bye! :)

Monday 10:45am

Was a dreary, chilly day yesterday and it rained all day.

Today is dry and dark, but looks like the sun is trying to peek out. Never saw any snow here because it went north of us. 39 degrees right now, but supposed to hit 50 today. Good day to wash clothes, budget for May, clean out my computer files, and make up some more of my weekly schedule sheets (they keep me on task--habit I picked up from working in an office and when I was in college). Feels like a good day!! :)

Sunday-Teddy Bear On The Bible

This is what I remember about my first religious crisis or spiritual epiphany.

I was five years old and in first grade at Northeast Christian School in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. (I went to parochial school for the first two years and then went to public school in Fridley starting in third grade.) Anyways, when it was really horrible weather we had recess inside. I remember the playroom had a wall that had a long counter with shelves underneath with lots of cubbies for toys and books. The bell went off and we were supposed to put the toys away and return to class. I was taking too long and had to hurry, so I quickly tossed this teddy bear up on top of the counter and rushed to get to class. The teacher grabbed my arm and dragged me back for a good close look at my sin. I had tossed that teddy bear on top of the big open bible on the counter. I thought I was in trouble for not putting it down in a cubby--but it was considerably worse than I ever could have imagined. The teacher lectured me about how I had defaced God's property, insulted God with my careless attitude, the bible was God's word, I had no respect,....etc....etc....etc. She informed me I was going straight to hell and I had better change my ways. She had me move the teddy bear to a cubby, apologize to God, and sent me off to class.

I was absolutely destroyed! I couldn't stop thinking about it! I had quite accidentally condemned my soul to hell. I had been in such a happy mood, loved school, and hadn't meant to do anything to upset God at all. I knew I'd make more mistakes--I always did. God was mad at me and would probably never forgive me. My life was over--done!

When I got home from school I nervously told my mom about how I was going to hell and why. She just laughed. Poo-pooed the entire incident. Since she didn't go to church except for Easter and Christmas I didn't figure she was exactly an authority on all things biblical--so I went off to my room, crawled under the covers, and mourned my loss of God until I had no more tears and just those hiccupy breaths. I laid there--limp and lifeless. And then I "heard" inside my head--"That's not your God."

Now, those of you that know me have heard about GA (my guardian angel) for most of my adult life. I had no idea where this information that just popped into my head came from--but never questioned it. Looking back--that was probably the first time I consciously remember having one of those inner conversations with GA (not that I was even aware that was what it was at the time--at all). You know how they say something has the ring of truth? My chats with GA have always been like bells of truth ringing--(whether I like what he has to say or not--hehe!).

Anyways, a long silent "thought conversation" took place as I laid there in bed. I was "told" that God doesn't judge only by the outside, but by the inside. Not just by what I did--but why I did it. Only God knows all the whys--knows everything--and that's why I shouldn't judge people only by what I see and hear. I had no evil intent toward God when I tossed the teddy bear on the bible. God knew that. My God is a loving God. My God has miraculous love that is bigger and stronger than all the hate or anger or fear in the whole world. But I was also "told" the teacher was not lying. That is how she sees God and that is who God really is to her--inside. Everybody's whys or insides are different. And only God knows your insides--your secret, safe place. I can't adequately describe how the concepts flowed through me or the intense relief and the love I felt all through my body and soul. The information was conveyed very simply and a lot of it was almost as visuals. But I have never forgotten it.

Seems like I have spent my lifetime trying to regain the innocent absolute faith of that five-year-old who believed she was forgiven. :):)

Sunday-1:45pm

It's a dark, drizzly day and they say it could turn to snow tonight. So much for spring--hehe!

Yesterday I was working on the birthday cards off and on all day. I made a couple videos for youtube, too.
Now I have to slowly put these all together over the coming days.

Keeps me out of trouble, right? hehe!

I am also going thru all my pictures and all of my favorites over the next couple weeks and cleaning house--getting rid of the stuff I don't need before Dagan makes a back-up for me. No small task before me, I tell you! I have thousands of both!!

I'll keep this short because I plan to be back later to post again. :)

Saturday-2pm

Hope you're having a relaxing weekend. :)

For Zelia in South Africa--these are Dagan's machines for sending his pacemaker information via the telephone. The one on the left he got with his first pacemaker when he was 12 years old. The one on the right is the newer model that he got a few years ago.
With the new one he makes the sample and then plugs directly into a land-line phone cord to send it, I believe. Dagan is 34 years old now, so he just does his thing and I guess I haven't paid really close attention to how this new one works.

Zelia--feel free to email me. :)

Say--I saw Mary Tyler Moore on the Bonnie Hunt show and she was talking about the aptitude test she took in school when she was young. I forgot all about that! MTM said she was supposed to be a model or in the armed forces--hehe! I remember being told I could probably do whatever I wanted to--but I'd probably be the most suited to becoming a forest ranger. How funny!! I think that was back in grade school or early junior high, but I can't remember exactly.

Years later when I was tested and tested for workman's comp--they kind of told me the same thing--that I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to. (Ignoring my arm injury, of course--hehe!) And they announced that they would not help me with schooling for retraining because "I was too smart to send to school". Apparently I have some kind of natural ability to learn by osmosis! Who knew? ROFL!! Where was that mysterious innate osmosis ability when I went back to school later!!?? (I decided to go to college on my own since they wouldn't help me and I couldn't do physical labor anymore.) Karma just came in off the porch to see what I was chuckling about to myself at the computer--hehe!

Anyways, we're back to rain and snow. We didn't get the snow here, but it was nearby, I guess. Was like 30 degrees last night. Right now it is 49 degrees. With little wind coming our way--I have the porch doors open for Miss Karma--for a little while, anyways.

John--I promise that either later today or tomorrow I will post about my first religious crisis. :):) I wanted to make it a separate post.

Friday-1:30pm

Well, today it is back to 41 degrees, dark, and drizzly. Good thing I love variety, eh--hehe! I like the cool weather, but Miss Karma was annoyed and crabby for a while. Took it out on me--complaining, racing about, threatening to grab my legs (she has no claws), and just generally huffing about. Obviously, she thinks I am a god that can control the weather. Humph! If that were the case, there'd be no hot sticky weather all summer long and the sun worshiping, heat-loving folks would hate me! ROFL!!

I've been working on the birthday cards. Did the purple and the green so far. Several of my nails on my left hand are green. :) It soaks into my clear nail polish--hehe! I've been scrubbing off the foam roller, letting it dry overnight, and then doing the next color. The pigment ink stains more and is sticky--so I wanted to just use one roller for pigment inks.

Honestly--I might skip today and do the blue ones on Saturday and give my arm a rest--hehe! But when I do the blue ones I will make a video. Promise. :):)

I got my official notice in the mail that I will be getting my $250 from the stimulus package by the end of May. I am going to get my lamp fixed!! The glass shield broke about two years ago--no lie! I need to get a new glass shield for the bulb and buy new bulbs. I even searched online to find local dealers who carry the German Holtkotter lamps--and found three--tada!

This lamp is the only really expensive, extravagant thing I ever bought and it is sure a pain to maintain--hehe! But, as a reader and writer, I absolutely love it. I will be sooooo excited when it is finally working again!! Even has a dimmer! I honestly just forgot about it for a long, long time. Had a light that worked, right?

Wow! I will actually have room again on my little endtable! I've had these two craft boxes stacked here for so long I can't remember what it is like not to have them there--hehe! I have two of these silver desk lamps and I had the bulb burn out on this one and then put the second one there. (Why I had no light over my art table all winter. Just purchased bulbs for the silver lamps recently when Leah and I were shopping--tada!) Silly how I just adapt to whatever and it becomes normal. :):)
Anyways, I am hoping that in June my Antique Brass Holtkotter Halogen Pharmacy Floor Lamp will be back in action! tada!!

I looked over at Leah when she was here and said--Oh No! I forgot about those two boxes! Where will I put them? ROFL!!! Never fear--I'll find a place again for them--hehe!

Miss Karma was lolling about on the porch most of the very warm day yesterday.
Happy girl!

Have a really good day!! :):)

Thursday-4:15pm

Finally I am back online--tada! Spring has arrived. We not only hit 70 degrees today--it is 78 right now!! We had almost like holes in the lawn from all the standing water and the workmen were here filling in the holes with dirt a couple days ago. The street repair is going to be something else this year from all the water damage--but life is moving on!!

Let's see--what has been happening? Oh--I guess Dagan went down just for the stress test and not his regular checkup. At the stress test they decided to send him over to his pacemaker people because they were concerned his battery is getting low on his pacemaker (he has several months left--don't worry). They already knew that and have been following Dagan closely with the monthly phone checks on his pacemaker. He has his regular checkup the end of May and then they'll decide on a time for him to get his pacemaker replaced this summer.

The desk computer and the laptop were both out of commission. I am sure glad I waited for Dagan and Leah to come over yesterday and check it out before I called CableOne--hehe! This desk computer was free from Dagan's last job and it had two brains (drives?). Well, the spare brain died. ??? Plus, my pages were all strange looking because I needed to upload the new Internet Explorer 8. They rebooted the modem and then the laptop worked again. That's all I really understand of what they did. Dagan started up a program to get me more space on the one brain the desk computer has left--and deleted all my temporary files? No clue what is gone now--hehe! All I know is that it is working again! TaDa!!! Funny how cut off from the world you feel without Internet!

Miss Karma--she's been in seventh heaven with the warm weather. Unlike myself, she loves the heat. We've been spending more time on the porch, of course. :)

I have been working on the Soul Coaching book, reading, writing letters, watching movies (Dagan and Leah told me to get Run, Lola, Run--interesting older foreign movie that has three versions of the same time period), working on the birthday cards a little, and all the usual day to day stuff. Leah came over first yesterday and then Dagan came over after work. Made some rice, chicken in a hoisin & tamari sauce, and broccoli for dinner. Always love having them over. :):)
Anyways, I am back! Happy to be blogging again--hehe!

Monday-4:30pm

I'm not sure if the blog will actually work today. The page is all out of whack and I could only put three out of the four pictures up. (Tried five times to get the last one on--oh well.) This is what I am looking at most of the time right now.

Anyways, I'm going to see if I can actually get a blog up today. If you don't hear from me for a while it is just because of computer problems so don't worry. :) The laptop won't work, either! Good thing Dagan and Leah are on their way home today from Minneapolis. I just got a text from Leah--all went well. Dagan is probably going to need a new pacemaker this summer. They'll let me know when they are back home again. :)

I finally was working on some cards last night. Didn't do any video yet. Was just clear embossing more paper parts I had cut out for the birthday cards. Decided to throw out the multi-colored ones I had done. Just didn't like them at all. Have another plan for the plain colored ones. :)

I also spent some time the past couple days working on the Soul Coaching book (other picture--hehe!). Been a while, but I am plugging away at it. Am working on writing about the life-changing days, epiphany moments. I have had so many of those--might take me a while to finish this section!

Karma and I spent some time in the afternoon on the porch. I was reading and reading. Finished another of Caroline's books. Miss Karma was watching the world go by--but later came to sit with me. Probably to keep warm--ROFL!!

I keep losing contact with blogger so I'm going to publish while I am connected and cross my fingers. Hope this works? :)

Sunday-12:30pm

Funny--I put the chair back to its spot at the table and that must have gotten Miss Karma thinking about different spots for repose. I found her in her stroller in the dark bedroom last night. She hasn't shown any interest in sleeping in there for months.

And I have never actually found her in the bathroom. Not sure why not? Just has always been a place for her to listen to her voice echo or drink out of the toilet and run. Found her in the dark last night--sitting like a little Buddha on the bathroom rug. That was a first.

You wouldn't think there would be any firsts left in an apartment this small after four years--ROFL! Karma has never been very interested in the bathroom or bathtub, tho. Has always preferred the hallway for her lounging for some reason--not the soft, fluffy bathroom rugs. The mysterious Karma mind...hehe!

Anyways, the antibiotics are doing their thing while I, basically, have not been doing much of anything besides the normal daily routine stuff. I finished the DVDs from Netflix and have been watching more of Caroline's Monk DVDs. I have great empathy for Mr. Monk--ROFL!!

Speaking of Monk-ish tendencies--everything Leah purchased for her new job is working great! Timers, cleaning brush, apron, plastic reusable marker tags to match up orders...so proud of her! Her boss wanted some help on getting organized--well, Leah will do an excellent job. I told her that pretty soon he will not remember how he ever used to get along without all these time savers! And I am sure she will come up with more as she is gradually trained in on each of the steps and processes used in making teeth. You just never know what skills you might pick up in your lifetime, do you?

Meanwhile--the computer is really being ornery. Screens won't open and won't open--but sometimes suddenly change their mind and cooperate the next second. Can't seem to get on to Facebook very often (can't get to my facebook farm at all) or my new Twitter spot? Maybe it was going on Twitter that messed up my computer? Not sure.

I decided that I will have Dagan look at it first this coming week before I call the cable company. He can often fix things--or at least he might know if I need to call CableOne or if it is my computer or my modem, you know? It mostly seems to be a problem of not being able to connect with the Internet to get to a new page, you know? But the desk computer itself has problems not wanting to boot up and connect with the Internet in the first place--that's why I can't shut it off. So--who knows? Not me, that's for sure. It all just gives me a headache, to be honest--hehe!

Another dark, cloudy, cool day. We're supposed to hit 50 again today. If it wasn't so windy it would feel warmer--but the hot weather will come plenty soon enough. I like it cooler, actually. I'd rather bundle up a bit and go sit out now and read on the porch when it's 50 degrees than be outside when it's hot, sticky, and humid! Any day! Any day! Definitely a Northern girl, eh? :):)

Have a good one! Where's my sweatshirt.....

Saturday-2pm

Well, I finally accomplished something extra yesterday--got a bucket of hot water & a rag, went out to the porch...

...and cleaned off the winter's residue of sand, rain, and snow off my metal chair and table. Tada!
Now I can sit outside on the porch again on a nice day. Murphy's Law, tho--hehe! I clean them off and there's a high of 44 degrees today--chilly! With the metal furniture you need it to be like in the 70's before you want to sit on it--ROFL!! That's why my other chair is padded--hehe!

Other than that I was a zombie all day. I think I got the antibiotics just in time--swelling again some yesterday and that makes the jaw hurt more. Today is much better. :):)

I have been having so much fun moving the chair around the room for Karma's entertainment. I do this every few months. She doesn't seem to get tired of it. This was Karma during the night (was up until almost 5am)--peeking at me from behind the chair.
She jumps off, races around, and leaps thru the armhole so she can make the chair spin.
The arm of the rocker stopped it so it could only spin from side to side--but that didn't seem to diminish the entertainment value--chuckle! She's my entertainment.


Since the desk computer has been working again it has been really, really, really slow. Feels like I am back to the days of dial up. I am not sure if it is the Internet service or my computer. I've gotten a lot of "can't connect to the Internet" pages? If it lasts more than a couple of days I'll check with CableOne. While I have been typing my blog right now I keep getting the red line at the bottom off and on--saying "could not connect with blogger.com" and not to publish. It's been coming and going. When you live in an apartment complex, they come to hook somebody else up and they have screwed up my cable wiring three times in the four years I've lived here--by accident. The trouble was in the cable room. Duh! Could be that again, I suppose.


Computers! You really miss them when they aren't working right, don't you? I didn't think I'd ever even have one and now I am lost without it! Hasn't life changed so much over the last 50 years!!?? Mostly for the better, tho. :):)


Dagan and Leah are making a quick trip down to Minneapolis this weekend. Dagan has a check-up (heart & pacemaker) on Monday and he is having a stress test this time. Hope all is well, of course. :):) I had thought I might possibly be able to go with for a quick visit (we would have gone for the whole weekend then) but definitely wasn't feeling up to it with all this swelling mouth setback. Nope--just home taking my pills and being a good girl--hehe! :):)

Friday-1:45pm

Leah came over--went to start my desk computer to see what it has been doing--and it started for her!!?? I had tried maybe eight times the day before?? Apparently sitting overnight it repaired itself again. Good. Baffling, but good. :):) I won't shut it off again. If it freezes up I will call Dagan and Leah and let them deal with it--hehe! They have the magic touch. :)

Anyways, these were the pictures of Karma on the porch a couple of mornings ago. Yesterday was so warm the porch doors and my bedroom window were wide open all day--until about 2am, actually. Wow! (Was because I had no wind in my direction--makes all the difference.) I think it got up to mid 60's yesterday and they said it might hit 70's by next week. One extreme to the next, eh?

Warm enough for some bug to be crawling on the porch...
...much to Miss Karma's delight!
Anyways, I also had managed to actually get a close up of one of the little splotchy coryadorus sitting next to one of the plants. Mind you, this fish is like about half an inch long--just a baby. The baby Chinese algae eaters are way to hyper to sit still for a picture. They see you coming near the tank and they hide. But they are doing a good job on the algae! :):)

Yesterday--whew! I feel like it has been two days since I woke up yesterday--no lie! Leah came over and we gabbed for a while before we took off. Karma had been sleeping in her chair when Leah came and didn't run away to hide under the end table or in the bedroom under the bed. This has been happening more often lately. ???

She stayed in the chair--and Leah sat on the foot rest!! I was in my chair and we just chatted and ignored her. Karma may look like she is sleeping, but she had her eyes slit and ears back a little bit--keeping an eye on Leah. But this is tremendous progress!! Had to snap a picture or nobody would believe it!

We have never known exactly why Karma suddenly disliked Leah and started to hiss and run away from her--then Dagan--and finally Caroline?? Basically most people who came over started to freak her out?? I have never had an antisocial cat before--ever. When she was around 2 years old she just started to change?? (She was four in February.)

I know we live this really, really quiet life and it is just Karma and I 98% of the time--and I have never been basically home all the time with a cat--but why?? We'll never know the workings of Miss Karma's mind. We just accepted that she had become this old lady cat who can't take company--hehe! She has started to calm down a little about people in the house now this past winter. Also--not sure why?? hehehe! Well--with Dagan and Leah, but not with Caroline. Crazy cat!

Anyways, we took off and went all around town--to K&Krafts in Moorhead (don't carry the ribbon holders any more) and then back across the river to Fargo. Leah and I have been able to be gone longer shopping because I sit and rest in the car part of the time while she goes into a store or two. Works well for us. I should bring a book next time. :) We were gone over four hours and went lots of places. Leah went in to the beauty supply place for her OPI nail polish (surprised me with some nail supplies!), the battery store, their lawyer's, Creative Kitchen at West Acres...and I might have missed one. I went inside at Office Max and Target. I had my birthday Target gift card from Blaine and Kathy (brother and his wife). Thanks so much for remembering me!!!

I got some business paper and bubble envelopes (for www.bookcrossing.com) at Office Max, too. Leah bought the poster tack and the super glue for our supplies over here.

Finally we went over to pick up PitaPaseo! Transferred all my goodies to my big red shoulder shopping bag. Leah has a friend who has sewn canvas shopping bags for her and we had a denim bag and a red canvas bag made for me. I have a harder time carrying bags, so we had shoulder bags made and I can carry a lot myself then. Independence! :) We each drove home from there--and Pita Paseo feels a little spunky now! hehe! They replaced the spark plug wires, the ignition was repaired, and the oil changed. Even wiped down the dashboard, etc. :):)

I totally collapsed for a few hours. Then gradually put away most of the bounty last night. Spent several hours with the inmates of Oz--hehe! Oh--and did my nails! :):) Of course, after being out and about--I am perfectly useless today--hehe! But so happy to have gotten all that we got done these past couple huge shopping trips! :):)

Oh--and my meds finally arrived in the mail yesterday and started them last night. TaDa!! They should help a lot. :)

Our 60 degree afternoons are supposed to disappear for a few days. They say back to the 50's today and 40's tomorrow.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Thursday- 10:30am

First of all, my desk computer is down again. It froze up and I made the mistake of thinking I could turn it off and get it to start up again. I have to wait until next week for Dagan to come and look at it. I retook these pictures for the blog today. Challenging for me to use different programs to even get the pictures into the laptop--hehe! I am less than fond of typing and having to wait for the words to show up on the screen--but am grateful to be online at all, right? :)

Anyways, yesterday when the mail came the book arrived from Gary (CBP group)--and it looks awesome!!!!

Besides the four gentlemen, which I want to learn, they have examples of butterflies...

...and grasshoppers at the end of the book.

So exciting! Thanks so much, Gary!!! :):):)

And the backordered reinker arrived already yesterday, too. I am happy with this new-to-me company. :) http://www.blockheadstamps.com/

BUT--there were no meds? I called the pharmacy and they never got the message that they were supposed to mail them out! The lady said they'd go out in the mail right away. So--they should be here today, I hope.

I also got my bill for the oral surgery and Medicare at least covers that pretty well--tada! Out of $1,205.00 I owe $149.99. Whether that is all of the actual billing, tho--who knows? It had no itemization at all--just one total.

Was a gorgeous day yesterday!! Had the porch door open all day. I didn't hear if it got up to 65 like they predicted, but I wouldn't doubt it. :) Today is supposed to be a little cooler because of the clouds, but supposed to be in the low 60's. And I did hear that the Red River isn't supposed to be as high as before, so they aren't as worried about it as last time. All the dikes are already up, of course, too. There's plenty enough flooding elsewhere in North Dakota because of the Sheyenne River. I heard there are 100 roads out.

Today Leah is coming over. We are going to go pick up PitaPaseo and do a little bit of shopping. When the mechanic went to remove the spark plug wires to check them--the wires crumbled away in his hands. So she needed spark plug wires and a new ignition or starter, I guess. Hope little Pita will be fine now for a long time. :)

Spring is definitely here in the North Country. Have a great day! :)

Wednesday-1pm

I'm still on this weird split shift sleeping--but got in more sleep today. :)

Yesterday Leah came over after work--took five times to get PitaPaseo to start, but she did! We got her over to the dealership and dropped her off. We had quite a bit of time before Caroline--so we went over to PetSmart so I could buy some cleaner fish. Michael's is right next door--so we popped in there first and we got a Martha Stewart border punch for thinner ribbon..

...and a package with a whole bunch of tiny metal frames. Of course--here they are already separated and put into some little bags I had--hehe!
Then I picked up a couple of corys and algae eaters at PetSmart. Now that my big pleco is gone I needed some other bottom feeders.

Anyways, then Leah got a call from the repair shop. The lady never asked for my key! They usually always ask you for it and have a little paper tag ready to write down all your information--so I didn't think of it. Now we were running later and didn't quite make it before Caroline. Luckily Caroline has my cell phone number and called to find out where I was. She was shocked--I am always home--hehe!

So--Caroline spiffed up my place. Leah and I put things away while I floated the four new fish. Time flew--Caroline was done and gone. Leah went home. Karma fell asleep in the out-of-place chair.
And I was in bed a little after 8pm! Just seems like the day went by extra fast yesterday. Today is an R&R day. :):)

Tuesday-5:45am

This was yesterday morning. Today it's supposed to reach 60 degrees!! :)

I was in bed at 8:30pm and have been up since 1am. Going to go lay down again for a little while, but wanted to blog now because I might not have time later.

I waited around most of the day yesterday for Dr. Magid's nurse to call and then call back again. Found out that the stitches don't dissolve for 6-7 WEEKS! Now I think I would have remembered that if I had heard it, even tho I was pretty spacey--hehe! And I don't remember reading that in any of the information I was given.

Anyways, the stitches are probably causing the soreness and tenderness in the back because they do up up my cheek some--and she said that was normal. She reminded me that this was surgery to the jaw bone and not like having a tooth pulled. The swelling coming and going--she talked to the doctor and he is giving me some more antibiotics--she said there would be two prescriptions. I asked her to call them in to my usual pharmacy (as long as the swelling is down again right now) because I am all set up so they can just mail them to me--tada! So, Leah and I didn't end up going anywhere yesterday after all. :)

Leah and I were planning on bringing the car in earlier today and doing a little shopping before Caroline comes at 3pm to clean--but when I woke up Leah had left me an email that her new boss had called and wanted her to come in to work from 9:30am-1pm. So, we will try to get the car over and be back before Caroline comes. We'll have to decide when to do the shopping--maybe tomorrow. Plans are always tentative, right? Good thing we're so very adaptable, right? hehe! :)

There's flooding again all over North Dakota. I heard Interstate 94 was closed between Jamestown and Bismarck--but I didn't catch why? The Red River is rising here in Fargo Moorhead again, too. But I think they're still hoping it will not get as high as before. Time will tell--shortly.

Right now--I am off to bed again for a while....zzzzzzzzz

Monday-11:15am

Sometimes I wonder where Karma has gone when I haven't seen her for a while--and she'll be sitting in some odd spot--like here in the corner of the bedroom. She must just figure she hasn't parked herself on that particular spot for a while?

Pull any chair out of its normal position and you will have a cat sitting in it within a couple minutes--so I move the chairs around for the heck of it sometimes--hehe! Here she's watching the fish.
Flash. (Makes her eyes look weird.)

No flash.

I forgot to say that Dagan and Leah went to their bankruptcy hearing last Friday. I think that means they will have it finalized in two months? Finally! :)

Much to my surprise I read online that there were 40 ships hijacked last year! Why don't we ever hear about these pirates? I am glad the captain is okay and has been rescued. What a brave man to offer himself for his crew! :)

I watched Sicko last night. Leah told me I should rent it. I have been uninsured off and on my whole life, so I know how our system works--or doesn't work. How without insurance or good insurance coverage you can't afford to go to the doctor, dentist, or eyedoctor--so you wait (like I just did) until you are forced to go because something bad has gone wrong.

And even when you have insurance--like I did when I hurt my arm at that factory back in 1995--workman's comp forced me to re-injure my arm three times before they let me go and I ended up with a much worse permanent injury than I had in the first place. But they tell you that you have to do this or that (even if the doctor says you shouldn't) or they will say you are "uncooperative" and kick you off your compensation--(was non-union). They can make you go to another doctor and another one--until they find one who will barely look at you and say you can do the work--and you end up in the emergency room again--and again. They try to find ways to kick you off so they don't have to pay you. You are treated like a liar and a leper if you are costing them money--unless it is something easy and quick and you can be back on the job in a couple days--you become the enemy.

You almost don't want to be chronically sick or badly injured in this country unless you are independently wealthy or live with somebody who can completely support you. I was like so many Americans--a couple of paychecks away from financial ruin. One bad accident and you lose everything.

Anyways, Sicko was quite emotional for me to watch.

Michael Moore sets his sights on the plight of the uninsured in this eye-opening, Oscar-nominated documentary. In the world's richest country, 45 million people have no health insurance, while HMOs grow in size and wealth. Moore also explores the widespread use of antidepressants and their possible link to violent behavior. With his trademark humor and confrontational style, Moore asks the difficult questions to get to the truth behind today's health care.

Hit so close to home that I found myself in tears for the people in the movie--many times. Made me want to move to Canada or Norway! Our medical system is such a cash cow for some many corporations--they have a stranglehold on it and won't let go. Bottom line is money--people don't really matter to them. The insurance companies make the policies for the clinics and hospitals--not the doctors, anymore.

Anyways, speaking of health--I am waiting to hear back from Dr. Magid's nurse (oral surgeon). The swelling went down yesterday it doesn't hurt as much again (of course--it's Monday, right?), but I still have questions. The back of the stitches are so tender still and my stitches haven't "dissolved" yet after 2 1/2 weeks? I want to know if all of this is normal or not? Could even be that the stitches pulling could be causing the pain--who knows? I'll find out--eventually. :):)

It's a cloudy day and supposed to get up into the mid 50's. I guess I'll fill you in tomorrow as to what I find out today. :)