Monday, Monday

Ah Monday, inescapable Monday. No matter what it rolls around every week. 

When I was working I would get to work early on Mondays to get everything done I possibly could before the clinic opened because I always anticipated a flood of calls. I always thought my reasoning was solid: Everyone knows they will become ill over the weekend then call their doctor on Monday morning needing to be seen, needing an excuse to not go to work that day or they ran out of their prescription Saturday night. 

Usually these onslaughts did not appear, but sometimes we were overwhelmed. 

Today I was on the 3rd day of a headache so I called my neurologist office. His nurse called me back needing the records from my visit to a neuro-opthamologist I had seen back in September. She claimed I would have to make the call myself because she could not make the request. I have a letter stating the records had already been sent but - who am I? Only the patient, what do I know? 

I called the neuro-opthamologist office and was transferred to their records department where I was then told that only my referring doctor (that would be my neurologist) could get the record. So I called the neuro office again and left a voice mail. Will I get an answer? Probably not, but at least I tried. I suppose I will continue to pack my head in microwaved rice bags until it explodes or the headache wears off. 

But then again, the headache might only be another symptom of "Mondayitis".   

Here it is, almost the end of November and I have totally neglected my blog. 

(Look Bill!! I am updating my blog!)

It has been a busy year; my Sissy moved from Arkansas to Arizona, our oldest son came home, we have taken in a new cat and I am still recovering from the broken ankles and foot from fainting on the stairs. 

Sissy's move wasn't traumatizing, she took her dog and a few clothes and will finish with her house/put it on the market later. Now both of my sisters are out West in the near-constant sunshine. I am not a sun worshiper so I can go visit them once or twice a year. Our dad is still in Arkansas so it isn't too bad for me to make a trip to check on him if the need arises. 

So since Sissy and I were traveling by car to Arizona we stopped when we wanted and looked at the sights. Our 3 day trip quickly turned in to a 5 day trip, leaving our family asking "will they EVER get to Arizona?" But even after we got there we had to spend one more night on the road and spend the night at the "Wigwam Motel" in Holbrook, AZ.

 Sis said the Wigwam Motel was on her "Bucket List". We had a nice time there - unlike Oprah we thought the sheets were fine. 

I had a great time and on the way back home a wonderful thing happened. When I boarded the airplane my seat belt fit me! Yes, I did not need an extension this time and there was even a little left over to "tighten"! YAAY!!! Hey, that might not mean much to some of you, but to me that was a great thing! 

I have lost 25 pounds and I an working on maintaining that loss for a while then will make another try at losing the next increment. Somehow, I'm afraid of losing a lot and putting it right back on.

Weight - at the beginning of our lives we struggle to put it on, at the end we struggle to get rid of it. 

Making Adjustments

I have discovered that even eating Jello after 4pm is too much. Probably because I can't eat sugar-free Jello, just the regular. I assume the regular Jello has too much sugar in it to allow me to lose weight. But that is fine, I will stick to water, tea, bullion or coffee after 4. Although, with coffee I have to have half and half. Hmmm... Maybe just once in a blue moon? Well, I'll reserve it for special occasions.

But at least I don't have the bad cravings and the hunger pangs aren't bad so I can do this.

Progress!

10 pounds gone! I can live with this!

I just have to convince myself that the hunger pangs after 4pm are helping me lose weight.

Back in my late teens - early 20's I was "normal size". It was a daily struggle and had some rules people might consider silly - my sis calls it "Draconian" but it worked so since my last visit with the cardiologist I have reverted to my old ways.

No eating after 4pm, no candy, no ice cream, pretty much a case of "if it tastes good, spit it out".

I maintained 125 pounds for 5 or 6 years, then I married my first husband. He wasn't a fan of the dieting lifestyle and said he would love me, all of me, no matter what size. Soon after I ate a Snickers bar. I still remember how great that Snickers tasted.

However, all good things must come to an end and last week I was on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing from my cardiologist for my weight. I had weighed in at 297 and I don't know if someone had put itching powder in his boxers or what but he was on quite a tear. He brought me to tears yelling about my weight and suggested bariatric surgery.

I spent most of a week looking at various surgeries and surgical groups and even made an appointment but at the same time, I went back to the old lifestyle and so far have shed 10 pounds.

Also I talked to a friend about my cardiologist. Apparently he is notorious for making rude comments about/to the obese and I must remember he is the doctor that insisted I get a C-PAP machine.

I have a hate/love/hate relationship with the C-PAP. Hubby loves it because it stops the snoring - or at least reduces it to a reasonable level. But the hyped "You will feel RESTED, ENERGIZED, REFRESHED, and you will LOSE WEIGHT!" has not happened.

Forget the fact it feels like I have stuck my head into a jet engine - I am a stomach sleeper and the full face mask I wear forces me to turn my head to a very uncomfortable angle.

Yes, I wear a full face mask - the nasal mask just blew my mouth open and I would wake up with my mouth and nose feeling like Death Valley.... Including the 20-mule-team. If you don't understand the reference, just Google "Death Valley Days".... it was on TV in the 60's.

So, I start my day with unsweetened, unflavored yogurt with a handful of mixed nuts, eat a lot of oranges because I love them, drink a lot of water and stop eating at 4pm.

Draconian? Maybe, but it does get results.

There's a trick to it...

Once again I ended up on an airplane with the dreaded task of fastening my seat belt. At least I wasn't alone in the task - my sister was along this time instead of my skinny husband.

We had seen the flight attendant walk past us once - she appeared to be glaring and gritting her teeth so we were doing our best to not ask for such a thing.

Fortunately, we had managed to get on the side of the plane with only 2 seats instead of the side with 3 seats - I dearly hate to be stuck in a middle seat but I can stand it for the 2 hour flight to Phoenix.

I knew there was a trick to fastening the seat belt, but for the life of me, while I was struggling, I couldn't remember it for a while. Then it hit me.

You brace your feet on the legs of the seat ahead of you, use the leverage to push your hind end as far back in your seat as you can, and the seat belt clicks! Needless to say, I really had no use for the "How to tighten your belt" instructions from the flight attendant, but I watched attentively anyway.

Every time I fly on Allegiant I get tickled at the instructions to "return your seat to the upright position". The seats do not recline. Maybe old habits die hard.

Certainly not knocking Allegiant - their rates are reasonable - or as reasonable as anything can be in this economy - and it is great to have an airline willing to take on the smaller market of Springfield-Branson.

As for the security measures at the airport nowdays, well, I have to get a "pat down" search anyway so I found nothing new. But as I put my belongings in the bin to go through x-ray and pulled out my little zip-lock bag of liquids, the TSA guy held it up and pointed... "Hey! First one today to get this right!" Apparently folks have started to slip up on that rule? Oh well. If so, shame on them! It isn't like anyone is asking THAT much out of you, just bag the bottles!

As for the pat down itself, well, let's just say - the second one (return flight) actually felt my pacemaker and asked what that was.... A bit surprising since my doctor sometimes can't even feel it! Oh well.

I sure enjoyed the Phoenix weather - dry and in the 70's. Then I had to return to the Missouri snow and cold.

At least when I returned the new window had been installed in the back wall. The cats and I once again are able to enjoy Bird-O-Vision.

The Signs Were All There

When you get out of bed on Monday morning and head to the kitchen to make coffee and you look out the kitchen window and see a dead armadillo in your driveway you should know that is the First Sign.

So, a couple hours later when you scorch the homemade chili in your very very favorite stock pot, a sensible person would just take some Tylenol PM and go back to bed and pull the covers up over their head and remain there for the rest of the week, right?

Obviously, I am not a person with that much sense so the aforementioned trip back to bed didn't happen.

Maybe I'm a bit stubborn, or maybe I'm an optimist with faith that things won't be bad for that long; and in the grand scheme of things, I guess a dead armadillo (HOW redneck can you get?? LOL!!) in the driveway isn't really earth-shattering - at least in this part of the world.

All of this is before noon. In the afternoon I spent a few hours trying to help a family purchase a headstone from e-bay.

Yes, e-bay.... Anyway, I finally got that task behind me, including doing a bit of photography work the family needed.

Then, the beginning of The Bad Thing happened.

It started innocently enough. A dear friend of mine had come over to sit and drink coffee in front of my big back window. You see, I have a 4 foot by 5 foot picture window that overlooks my back yard and my friend and I often sit here in the back room/pantry/utility room/computer room/Gayla's Cave and watch the birds come to the assortment of bird feeders I have out there.

On this particular Monday, since I had so many other things going on, my bird watching buddy decided to clean the window. She understands my physical limitations and claims me even if I do drift off to sleep once in a while - that, folks, is the sign if a real friend!

Anyway, as Maddy was cleaning the huge window she noticed there was a gap at the top - about a half inch or so between the glass and the wooden frame. Kinda like the window pane had decided to try the new "Pants on the Floor" (POTF) look.

A bit of window history here. When Rick and I first bought this old rock house, there was an addition built on the back that had obviously been intended as a utility room. There was a washer and dryer hook-up and such but the entire back wall had rotted out. The small aluminum-framed window had fallen out of the wall, the wall studs were mostly rotted out and the wall was pretty much ready to fall in.

Shortly after we moved in, I had a yard sale and the neighbor asked if I would mind trying to sell this big window he had. No one bought it and it ended up in a shed in our back yard.

But one morning a group of folks from church descended on us and tore out the rotten wall and built a new one. There was a bit of discussion about a window for the new wall and the big window was put to use. What a wonderful wall! New paneling on the inside, the rest of the room wainscoted with the paneling, wallpaper above. A beautiful, room with lots of light and a view of the back yard with the five mature oaks - birdwatching paradise! A 12-inch wide window sill completed it and I moved in a recliner, a love seat, and my laptop. It was perfect. I could do laundry without walking far, and I had a quiet, relaxing place to watch TV, visit friends and write.

But now the big window had a gap at the top. Maddy showed the gap to Rick and we showed the gap to Steve - our jack-of-all trades friend. Rick and Steve decided they could fix it - but a bit later in the week. So for the moment, we filled the gap with weatherstripping.

Really, the weatherstripping could have stayed there until summer - or at least spring.

But the attempt was made to fix it. Now there was 2 guys with big suction cups tugging at the window and it broke. So now, in middle of January I had a 4 foot by 5 foot hole in the middle of my wall - and it happened in the middle of the Bad Week.

So I decided to do something happy. Doing something happy has to improve this week, right?

Our church collects toys for a local hospital, we wash the stuffed animals and the emergency room then has a warm fuzzy for sick kids who need something to cuddle. That might sound gross to some people, but really, by the time we run them through the washer and dryer, they are probably cleaner than they were when they first came out of the store. But last week we were given a doll with no clothes.

It was a nice doll so it was in a "too good to throw away, not nice enough to give away" category so the Deacon who had brought it in asked if maybe I could find something for the dolly to wear. Since I was in the midst of the Bad Week, I decided to tackle the Naked Dolly issue and I got out my sewing machine.

I have never, never in my life made a doll dress - and I had no pattern. So I laid the doll down and marked off a couple of dimensions and cut out a trial dress top - sewed it together and tried it on. Too small, so as I was cutting out the second attempt Maddy arrived and after pouring herself a cup of coffee, she was offering moral support. I though I was doing pretty well considering everything and I had to show off the burgundy apron I had already assembled. Soon I had a dress made. Well, almost made. There was a bit of trial-and error through this whole process and since my fine motor skills are fading a bit I was thankful for the help getting Dolly dressed and undressed with each new fitting. I gathered up some hook and eye fasteners and a bit of lace and some of those pearls-by-the-foot they sell in the craft section at Wal-Mart and by the time all was said and done, I have to say, Dolly made the week improve when I saw her all finished wearing her tan calico dress with the full skirt and the print burgundy roses all over it. She had a burgundy apron and a nice lace collar that was topped with a row of pearls sewn all the way around.

So, I still have no window - but hopefully, someday, a little girl will have a doll with a pretty dress, and inside the dress, at the back, she will find a label that says "Made With Love and Kisses". She won't know I was having a terrible week, but maybe her week will be good.