BiddiesInMyBrain

Let's Just Say...

(highly controversial contents pulled for the time being, though I was under no pressure to do so)

New Photo Album

It's short, but I have put up a new photo album: April 2008 At Home Thought you might like to see it.

At Least It's A GORGEOUS Day

Well, this morning didn't start out well at all. We're not getting into it at all except to say that the health problems of late reared their ugly head again. Bah.

However, later in the day things did improve enough that I sat on the porch swing and studied for about four hours this afternoon in the light breeze. Got a lot done and really enjoyed the weather.

Then, the new flash for my camera arrived... and OMG, am I having fun with my new toy. I mean FUN. I'll have to upload the pics - this flash gives me the ability to take indoor pics that actually look natural - and the flash doesn't freak out the animals because I can adjust it at a 60 degree angle (or more) away from them and it doesn't flash in their eyes. SO COOL. Should have ordered this years ago, but it always cost just way too much. It was still a bit pricey, but it was $75 off, and I finally decided to go for it. So glad I did. You guys may end up hating it, though. :::evil grin:::

Still haven't gotten mail today. What's up with that? We usually have it by 11:30 or noon.

Now? Continuing to read and read and read for the rest of the night. There's a lot to do, and I am just really trying to get it done in time for the end of the semester. Yeah, I think it's a pipe dream, but still, I am trying.

Crash is due home in 45 minutes... what to make for dinner? I just want something light given that my tummy hasn't behaved at all today... but there is not much like that here at home - and I am not interested in going out. I'd be happy with picking at leftovers, I guess, but there's not much of those, either. ::sigh:: Guess this means I need to get creative and cook something that I probably won't eat. Maybe I will send him out for value meal stuff and satisfy myself with something along the lines of an Arby's roast beef sandwich?? I dunno. ::shrug:: Bite that off when I get there.

Talk with y'all later!

Brrrr... I'm Cold Despite the Warm Temps...

But yanno what? I feel actually *good* this afternoon. :::glancing around for threat of lightning:::

I'm getting a lot done, I am alert and reasonably pain-free... and it's a gorgeous, sunny day. It's in the upper 70s right now, with a cool breeze, and I am bundled up in a sweatshirt and I am thinking about gloves... but other than that, I am really, really feeling good.

::smiling:: I have another rose blooming. I am guessing Spring is here. And there are just thousands of buds on the 32 bushes and climbers - I think the next bloomer is going to be a yellow tea rose - I can already see the yellow bursting through the bud. I'll take a pic as soon as it comes. There are *tiny* fig buds on the trees - I mean TINY - they are about half the size of my little fingernail. Took a bunch of pics today, but haven't pulled them off the camera yet. Will post when I do.

Feel a great sense of relief now that my Medical Power of Attorney and Advance Care Plan are in place and safely put away (and I have e-mailed pdf copies to the relevant people who will need it). They know where to find it in the house, and they are well aware of my wishes. I was very melancholy about this this weekend - weepy even - but now that I have gone and done it, I feel much, much better. I suspect it will be the same way about the Will, which will be considerably more complicated, but will feel much better all said and done.

Put up baby gates so the dog can't get to the front of the house and on Grandma's furniture. I found some really nice ones on Amazon for $30 a piece, and they are gated instead of static, so we don't have to climb over them. Jen is ok with them (they at least allow her to *see* the living room, unlike the flimsy boards we had up)... but the cats are really pissed off about them, and are protesting vigorously. I have put "steps" on either side of one of them so they can jump over them, but they are *very* skeptical and want the gates *GONE.* ::rolling eyes:: They are such prima donnas.

Picked up a very inexensive copy of 1000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die from Amazon... ordered it yesterday afternoon and somehow got it today. Go figure! I figure since we will be traveling cross country this summer we had might as well take some minor detours here and there, if anything is on the way. Might be fun to see what we have seen that they consider essential, too. Worth the conversation while driving, anyway.

Can I tell you just how much I love Levenger?? They are the most amazing vendor I have ever dealt with. I had a minor problem with an order that arrived yesterday - a purse I have been coveting - which arrived with something unexpected in it. I let them know about it, and that while it wasn't a dealbreaker or anything, I felt they needed to know about it. I *love* the purse... and have made it MINE MINE MINE... (I feel like Gollum) - it's the first purse of any sort I have bought in like... ten or twelve years... and it is made out of this incredibly supple leather and it is just.. OMG it is just... :::drool:::. Well, they wanted me to be *perfectly* happy and before I knew it, they had sent me a brand new purse and want me to send the other one back. I am sending the replacement one back... I don't have the heart to unload my Gollum-Precious... I am already so attached to it... but they are so determined to make it right that they are bending over backwards. This is one of my all-time favorite catalog stores for family and close friend gifts, but this? This puts them over the top. Order from them if you can. Their service and care - not to mention the legendary quality of their products - will blow you away.

OK. I need to get back to my school work. But I am just ... happy tonight. And I wanted to share it. I haven't felt happy since before Spring Break - the last time I can pinpoint it was early on the day of my birthday, February 27, *before* the plumber discovered the mess that was the hell of last month.

Happy is good.

Hizzoner... HUH?

Mayor Willie is proposing a 17% property tax hike... and still insists he is closing five libraries and four community centers. AND, he's suggesting that somehow this is all good for the educational system in Memphis... the same education system he has all but stated he is going to run next year. We already have a 9.25% sales tax... WTH?

Methinks Willie is snorting something more volatile than the regular white stuff he's been rumor to have been into.

The 67-year-old mayor has things in a wild state downtown - to the point that the school board and the city council are not on speaking terms at all; a conference was called with the city school board and city council yesterday and the only person who showed up from the school board was Willie's right hand (I want so badly to say reacharound, but I won't) man, Kenneth Whalum. The rest of the school board and top staff were under orders from the school board president to be no-shows and city council was left holding the bag. ADDENDUM: Here is a rather good, but short article about the bruhaha, including an e-mail between the president of the school board and the city council.

At stake? The education of many many thousands of students, the role of teachers in the classroom ... and a nearly $100 million proposed budget. Willie thinks he can do better with metal detectors in every school, an increased police presence in every school, no real raises for teachers, no real budget for new books and classroom upgrades... and his AWESOME, DUDE presence (with no increase in the budget, which stands this year at roughly $93 million). But of course, he plans to draw his retirement from the years he taught and was super before, the mayoral retirement, AND the salary he would be gaining from the new superintendency. Um. Triple dipping, anyone?? What need has *he* to think of anyone else?? He'd be SET. Forget the peons and the kids - he can just sit upon high and make pronouncements and pretend to be the right hand of God, smashing the tablets as he goes.

This is the single most dysfunctional city I have seen since ... well, I've studied a lot of dysfunctional cities in the past, but even Boston or New York under the graft at least got things done, even if it was piecemeal and in fits and starts. This?? Who knows what anyone is doing. I think Willie wants to be part Boss Tweed, and part Boss Crump (our local political Boss from back in the day)... and part, well, Boss Willie. But he doesn't realize he is pretty much universally - and derisively - laughed at these days.

We also have a County Mayor, A.C. Wharton, who plays his politics much closer to his chest - and frankly doesn't personify Teh Stupid. I would like to see City/County consolidation and get this mess straightened out. Wharton at least doesn't have a Messiah complex - and he is an easy guy to get along with, even when he is making hard choices (I've met him on several occasions, and am impressed with him as a person, as well as with his politics. I don't always agree with him, but geez, as a politician goes, he's not bad - and he has a passion for the county as a whole that is unmistakable and inspiring.).

Anyway. We need to boot Mayor Messiah out of his comfy throne and... well, I am back to the idea of a swirly, but am reconsidering my house as a suitable location. I think there are sewage treatment plants around town better able to handle the waste.

Hizzoner is a "Pistol Packin' Mayor?"

Get this news story from WREG.com. All rights reserved to WREG (and kudos to Mike Matthews for getting the story!):

Pistol Packing Mayor Says Big News Is Coming

Fast Facts:

• Mayor's Budget Plans Include closing some libraries and community centers
• Possible property tax increase
• Education overview on May 6th

mike.matthews@wreg.com

(Memphis, TN 4/14/2008) When you can get all six feet five or six inches of him to relax, Willie W. Herenton will talk about anything. 

Recently, before Leadership Memphis, the words were flowing out of him like the waters of the Mississippi.  He talked about crime, and how he's a pistol packing PhD.  "I do have a permit," he said.  "When I go to the gas station, I've got my pistol with me.  And I'm the Mayor."

That's right.  He's the Mayor.  He's still the Mayor.  Herenton has said he'd leave the job if he could get his hands on running Memphis City Schools.  At at times, it seems as though he's already left the office.  Mayor Herenton kept referring to himself as Superintendent during an interview with the New York Times.  And while speaking to Leadership Memphis he said, "But at the time I was Mayor and...uh...I still am Mayor."

Yes he is.  And he's got a huge budget that is expected to include plans on closing several branch libraries and community centers.  And three weeks from now, something even bigger is coming.  It's his stand on education.  "I"m gong to be making the most important presentation of my public life on May 6th," he said.  We tried to pin him down on specifics and got nowhere.  Herenton said "It will focus on education.  It will focus on some of the critical needs of this community."

Not only will City Council members hear his plans.  They Mayor wants you folks to show up.  And he especially wants the members of the School  Board to be there.  "The school board's going to get a special invitation," he said.  "We'll even send them cards."

::rolling eyes:: Oh honey, you really are spechul. You're so visionary that your eyes are bigger than a whale's stomach - and about as attractive. You're so humble that pie was created just to soothe your ego.

Packing a pistol?? Uh. WHY? He's got more bodyguards than Elvis did in his heyday... why does Hizzoner need a pistol?? Is this a Wild West town? .....If it is, Willie, it's of your own creation!

And what's with this Superintendent Schizophrenia he's evidencing with the New York Times? He's NOT THE FLIPPING SUPER. And the Superintendency does not carry with it the name of the Presidency... like once president, always an honorary "Mr. President." Yes, he was once the superintendent. Now he's the mayor. Hizzoner can't seem to keep things straight ...Willie, have you been in the white powder lately?

Most important presentation of his public life on May 6? Oh why not May 1? ... Let's do it right and proper and have a rollicking May Day speech, Willie.

And finally, he wants to raise our taxes YET AGAIN ... but close our libraries and community centers. Jackass. Really. .... Willie, you should be cleaning up after the equestrian squad of the police department, not running the city. You haven't a clue.

ARRRGH. Really. Hizzoner isn't fit for the job he's currently in... why should we entrust him with our children... or our confidence in any other position? Let a private firm hire him and deal with his ego - bet he'd be out on the street in no time flat. ... Having never worked in the private sector, I think you would have a lot to learn, Willie.

Now that's education I can believe in. ::smirk::

Talked With Doc

OK, here's the scoop:

The doc said the MRI came back looking really good - and the pancreas especially. He's thinking that my med combo is putting some strain on the pancreas and liver and I am to discuss my med regimen with each of my physicians pronto. Will retest the blood markers next time I am in.

Got some guidance on the pain in the belly - he thinks it may be from adhesions in the belly from all the surgeries and that he may have broken some of them loose while performing the colonoscopy. Adhesion pain would make a lot of sense since it doesn't hit until food reaches a certain place in the digestive tract ... or until I stretch (what a brilliant question... he asked if I had pain in my belly in the same general area when I stretch... and uh... yeah... I do. Duh. Didn't think about that). As the intestines stretch and move to accommodate food digesting, they also move adhesions around and I am probably reacting to that pain. It's definitely something to chew on (ha ha ha!). Am to continue with the pain medication as needed, but as sparingly as possible. Soft diet when things are really bad (like now) and graduate to a more firm diet as I can tolerate it. Lots of liquids. Lots of rest.

In the meantime, I still have basic digestive problems, and they are being hit with med adjustments - we seem to be on the right track with that, so he tweaked some things and we'll see how things go. Hopefully no more digestive tract accidents.

So, anyway... he is hopeful that these are the problems and the fixes - but says if this continues, he is going to refer me to a surgeon to do an exploratory lap. Let's just say I want the problems to get better without taking that step.

That's all the news that's fit to print. I'm staying home tomorrow again to see how the tweaked meds work, and then (I HOPE) getting back to school on Wednesday or Thursday.

Thanks for the hand-holding.

Why Men Shouldn't Take Messages

MRI Results

Came back looking normal... so we're back to square one trying to figure out what is wrong and why the lipase and pancreatic numbers are out of whack. Part of me is disappointed that we don't now have something concrete to work with, and part of me is terrifically relieved and thrilled that it's not a horrible disease process that can be actually seen on an MRI, yanno?

SO frustrated... and so looking forward to going back to bed for a while - and taking that much overdue painkiller because my tummy has hurt all morning without relief. They've simply got to figure something out.

WOW

Hadn't checked in a while, but my blog ticker is getting ready to switch to 30,000 visitors in the next few weeks. I can't believe you guys are still here, peering through the cracks!! Thanks for all your support and love - and crankiness sometimes, too - you keep me humble and on track.

Oh, and only one person e-mailed me pointing out during the NCAA men's basketball tourney that I didn't have a category for sports, just current affairs and television. LOL I wondered if any of y'all would pick up on that! Every once in a long while I think I have gotten away with something, but then... one of you always snags the reference or picks up on the sidle and ... there. I've been caught. ::giggle:: I love it.

::smooches::