Half-Way

Well there they are! Three stars in the President's Physical Fitness Challenge and I'm halfway to my certificate. I think I should be able to make the next level by September (end).

I took some pictures when I walked on Friday - it was a beautiful day. I need to download them and if I remember, I'll post them! Amazing how nice it was Friday, then turned to yuck on Saturday and snowed on Sunday! Monday was just really cold and windy; I froze out walking. It was worse than winter when it's 20 degrees because the wind was so sharp. Today was another cruddy day with cool temps (in the 40's), lots of wind, and rain.

On the upside, there were some darling kittens at the Humane Society today. They were in an upper level cage and Clay was trying to pet them while I was in a side room with sibling cats, emptying their litter. Clay started urgently asking me to get over there and help him!! Well, with diseases being what they are, we wash up to the elbows after every contact, so I had to get the litter pan in the cat's room, make sure they stayed in while I closed the door, run to the sink, wash up well, zoomed over to Clay and guess what? He had one kitten contained, but another had climbed sort of over his shoulder and head and was hanging head-first off his neck, down his back! Grabbed that little lady and got her back in. One thing I'll say for the adult cats is they don't escape so much! There are a number of really nice, friendly, easy to handle young adult cats (1.5 to 2.5 years) there right now. I hope they're all adopted.

First Robin

I saw my first robin of the season out walking today - see it up there? Kind of in front of the top of the pine tree. Sorry for the fuzzy photo; all I had with me was my phone! So, it's the first robin I've seen this year. I'm sure others have seen some, but this was my first and it made me smile! I saw 3 more on the walk.

I also saw several ducks and geese today. Actually, the ducks were blocking the main drive at the Pine Rest main campus ... they tend to do that until they migrate in the fall! There's a duck pond that is well populated. I work in a buidling called Mulder Center (the campus is about 44 acres with many different buildings and residences). Mulder looks like it was built in the 50's or early 60's - it's inappropriate for Michigan. It's 2 conjoined squares with a couple of wings jutting out; each square is loaded with large windows (so yes, it's freezing in winter, hot in summer) on both the inside walls and outside walls and each square has a large courtyard in the center.

The courtyard near where I work has ducks that come every year to nest. When the duckings are ready to go in water and start feeding that way, the parents go a little crazy trying to fly them out (tough because they learn to swim before fly). So each year, the maintenance department has duck parade ... they herd a couple of duckings and pretty soon they're all following (sometimes as many as 20 or 25) and they lead them into the building, down through the halls, and out the front door so they can get to the pond.

Happy spring! :-)

Happy Birthday!

Well, it's my birthday once again. Actually, this was the best birthday I've had in many years (at least 10, probably more like 15 or 18). We did all the routine stuff (cleaned house, laundry, orthodontist appointment, dentist appointment, etc.), but the whole family went to dinner together, thanks to some wonderful friend's (thank you Kelly and Eric!) Christmas gift to us (dinner!). Then we went out to a movie (Knowing), which we all enjoyed greatly, and came home to open cards and gifts. The BEST gift, from all 3 of my men, was a "dog chaser." This is an electronic device that makes a sound dogs can't stand and makes them run away.

I LOVE this gift because I like to walk, but had all but stopped over the past couple of years, for several reasons, not the least of which was misbehaved dogs. There is something about ME that dogs don't like, even though I generally like animals (including dogs). I've been bitten, I've been chased, I've had a German Shepard break through it's electronic fence and drag it's owner down the street (really) coming after me. I have learned over the years to stay away from dogs I don't know and to respect them! I have a walk route in our neighborhood that is my "no dog" route - that is, I only pass by dogs I know and trust (a schnauzer, a labrodoodle, a mastiff, a german shepherd mix). I have my alternate route that includes a border collie (hey Rudie!), but ONLY if a particular house has their beige whatever (loud) dog inside. I also have a "no dog" route nearby, but it's really short.

I stopped walking in our local park this past year, which has a leash rule (in a township with a leash law), due to all the dogs running loose. I tried contacting the parks commission, as this park was funded in large part by a wildlife grant to help promote a wetlands habitat, and honestly, no wetlands birds are going to nest where dogs are chasing them. There is a dog park a couple of miles away - there is no reason to NOT leash a dog in this park (Rozelle) other than pure selfishness and disregard for both the habitat and other people. Even so, the parks commission did nothing.

Well, now I feel like I might be able actually walk where I feel like walking! We'll see how it works. It promises to not hurt the dogs, just make a sound they dislike and will actively try to get away from. If it seems like it's painful or if it doesn't work, I guess I'll be imprisoned back into my "no dog" zone. I find it very irritating that dogs have more freedom than I do!!

Anyway, a great birthday. Hopefully this bodes well for the coming year!

Welcome Spring!

Two stars, two weeks completed of the President's Physical Fitness Challenge!

I think it's really spring; Friday was the "official" first day of spring, but that usually means nothing to Michigan! However, looking ahead at the weather this week I saw the entire week will be around 50 with lows near freezing at night. That is DEFINITELY NOT winter weather! I'm so very happy to be nearing nice weather.

This weekend, I went to see "I Love You, Man" with some 16/17 year olds (they needed a parent present). I laughed so hard I was getting teary eyed a few times ... laughed hard A LOT. That movie definitely played to my sense of humor. The female lead was played by the daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton; I was impressed with her. Paul Rudd (as always) was just sweet, lovable, and hilarious. Andy Sanberg was also in the movie, playing the gay brother of Paul Rudd. A bonus was Jane Curtain as their mother.

I'm reading a book right now "Blood and Ice" that is unfolding in a totally unexpected manner. I'm a little freaked out by it - I LOVE thriller novels, but this is more scarey/creepy, which I don't do well!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Wishing everyone a fun St. Patrick's Day! I put the Reebok shoe there because the "wearing of the green" is an Irish-Catholic tradition (symbolizing Roman Catholocism), whereas the Protestants wear orange on St. Patrick's Day. That's also why the Irish flag has both an orange stripe and a green stripe (unity of the two faiths). Since I'm Protestant, I guess I should wear orange! The shamrock can be worn by anyone as St. Patrick introduced it when he was converting ... the shamrock has 3 leaves and he used to to symbolize the Holy Trinity.

So wear your orange and green and shamrocks and enjoy some corned beef and cabbage!

Well, here's my star for completing my first week of the President's Physical Fitness Challenge! I completed it with points to spare. Downside ... I'm still sick. :-( Upside, as I feel better, I'll get a more accurate idea of my "comfortable" level of exercise, in presidential points, so I can start planning my goals for the bronze medal (which I'd like to do this summer).

Beautiful, beautiful day today. I stumbled around this morning feeling horrible, once I was up a couple of hours and was breathing better, I ran a couple of errands with Clay. I got in a small walk this afternoon, went Target shopping with Harrison (the bulky stuff - paper towels, toilet paper, etc. - sales and coupons), corrected 70 pieces of homework, did a couple of loads of laundry, and generally felt like I was moving in slow motion! Can't wait to feel better; getting so little done makes me feel worse (unless I specifically PLAN to spend a day doing nothing!).

Since I've now lost my voice, I believe I'll be showing a movie tomorrow instead of lecturing. I'm quite sure the students won't mind! :-) So the day after tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I might be part Irish. Hard to know. My mom's family came straight from Germany (WWI), so I KNOW I'm 1/2 German. My dad's family is less sure of their heritage. They say my great-grandfather was an Irish Jew (??) who immigrated to Canada, lived with a Native woman and fathered 6 children with her, then left her (what a slug!) and moved to Jackson (what for, I can't imagine) where he met my great-grandmother, who was an English immigrant. So, my grandfather was half Irish/Jew and half English and married my grandmother who was Irish and English. So my dad would have been half English, half Irish ... and 1/4 Jewish?? I'm laughing. I honestly think they didn't have a clue! Anyway, that means I might be 1/4 Irish/Jew.

I saw this cool website where for $250 bucks you can get a DNA analysis to trace ancestry. Might be interesting. When I lived in Colombia, they said I looked Colombian (and everyone always spoke to me in Spanish). In Miami, I only get spoken to in Spanish - they say I look Cuban. In Mexico - Spanish - they say I look South American. In Spain - Spanish, South American. In Italy, Italina, they say I look Italian. In Greece, people speak to me in Greek and say I look Greek (??). In Germany, I'm approached in German, which makes sense because I am part German. So I'm thinking a DNA analysis might tell me I'm Italian by way of the Roman invasion of Ireland, therefore part Irish, German, and let's throw in some other miscellaneous European stuff (they moved around for hundreds of years!) - maybe I'll be part Greek, part Gypsy (that sounds fun), and let's toss in some Morroccan, just for fun. :-) I know Morrocco is in Africa, but it's very close to Europe, so there's been movement for many, many centuries. Really, though, it would be interesting.

Can It Be?

It's 50 degrees today! I'm wondering if spring might actually be here ... I'm still just so hesitant to think so. I think I better just enjoy it for the moment and plan on spring in the end of May!! I took the pictures above when I walked (slowly) today. Tiger on the porch, sunning herself is a "for sure" way to know it's above 50! I also have a few plants peeking out ... the last few years, we've had the same and even buds on shrubs and trees ... and then FREEZE and snow, killing it all. Wouldn't it be great if it just kept growing?

I'm still sick. This is one heck of a bug. I'm having so much trouble sleeping ... the congestion is horrible and it feels like fingernails scraping in my head, from my ears being so blocked. It's the worst when I lay down, plus with asthma, I have a really hard time breathing after a couple of hours. I keep getting up and wandering for at least an hour, coughing, feeling like I'm turning myself inside out, just to clear my lungs enough to try sleeping again. Inhalers aren't helping. Not to be morbid, but if I die any way other than by not being able to breathe, I'll be shocked! I can just see myself at some point getting pneumonia (for the umpteenth time) and slowly sufficating ... even if it's when I'm 102. I wish somebody would tell me something that would help when I get like this. It's a 50/50 shot - when I'm so congested, about 50% of the time I get pneumonia, just from getting crap in my lungs and not being able to cough it out. My regular doc and my allergist both say there's nothing else - just decongestants and inhalers. Decongestants barely touch it ... kind of like using a spoon to empty the ocean. I also use a humidifier/vaporizer, put Vicks in it. I don't know what else to do. So, I went outside to enjoy the weather and just walked really slowly because I'm so out of breath; I hate this. Feels good to bitch about it a little though!

On a positive note, Clay felt better today. He left the house, to go for a ride with Dad and a family friend - first time out of the house since last Sunday! Harrison still seems fine, which is AWESOME!

It's supposed to hit 60 on Tuesday. I am planning on feeling ok by then and planning to sit out on our patio, which is stone, so it soaks up the heat, to work. Sun will feel soooooooooo good!

sick!

Well, Clay has been home sick since Monday. Every time I think he's feeling a little better, he gets worse again. Today he had a 102 temperature. He walks a dog on Wednesdays; last night the lady that owns it asked him to walk it today - he was feeling better, so he said "great!" Of course, the 102 temp today - so his brother was going to do it for him. I came along because I needed to walk a little today (I'm getting sick, too), but not too stenuously - guess who wound up walking the dog? Anyway, it was nice to walk with Harrison and talk to him alone.

We're all so tired. Clay has the temp, Dad is just tired, tired, tired, I am congested beyond belief (hard to hear, I can't lay down because the drainage is so bad I can't breathe and need to cough), my chest hurts, my throat hurts, and Harrison just feels OK! I hope he doesn't get it.

I really can't miss work tomorrow either because I work at the hospital morning and afternoon and will teach during my lunchbreak at the university. Tough day to miss (2 jobs!). Also, I'd feel terribly if I missed tomorrow because we're so backed up with patients - we have 4 of us working neuropsych. Each can handle 1 patient a day unless we get a really high functioning person and finish early - then you can get someone else started (but not finished). So 2 people are on vacation this week and we have 6 patients that need to be seen tomorrow - obviously that isn't going to happen! So, it would just be worse if I didn't show up. Catching up next week is going to be a trick as well, because we already all have completely booked schedules next week ... plus the ones we're behind this week, plus whatever new inpatients need evaluation. The upside is that there's work to do, so our jobs are probably as secure as can be in this economy.

I don't know what to do with Clay. I almost called the pediatrician today - 4 days of missed school and still a 102 temp that only comes down to 101 with tylenol and motrin. The secretary at school said the kids that are out have all missed about a week and were SICK the whole time and running temps - so I'm thinking the pediatrician would say if he's still sick 5 days from now, then we'd do something.

I can hardly wait for the predicted sunny 40-degree day Saturday is supposed to be! I'm already planning a several mile walk. :-)

Day 2, Week 1 Fitness Challenge

It has been an absolutely lovely day! After work today, I stopped to walk and completed my fitness time for today. I took the picture you see - maybe a little green somewhere?? It's wet outside anyway!

Clay and I sat outside in the sun on beach towels (with coats on) - he read a book and I corrected papers. Then the boys and friend Alex played hockey in the driveway and 4 square. It was just refreshing to outside for a while.

So I'm hoping that our March that came in like a lamb doesn't go out like a lion - but I won't hold my breath! My birthday is the end of the month and in almost 50 years, I can only remember 3 that were decent (my mom swears the day I was born was nice, though). All the rest were gray, cold, snowing, sleeting, raining, freezing rain, freezing rain with sleet, rain turned to snow ... you get the picture! The only birthday party I ever had was when I turned 7. My dad took me out of the house because it was a surprise - it snowed so heavily while we were gone that I missed my own birthday party. We slid off the road (a narrow, crowned road) into a huge ditch. We landed sideways and had to crawl out the driver window. Somebody pulled us out and we finally made it home, just in time for parents to pick up their kids. I even missed the cake and all the games!

March sucks! I vote we remove March entirely! Go right from February to April. :-)

Cruddy Sunday

Well, another rainy, cold day. I really shouldn't complain, because I would rather have this than snow!!! Clay went to an Asian Cultural program at U of M with friends this weekend. I was glad he planned to stay overnight, because they got back at 3:30 am! Harrison went out with friends both Friday and Saturday evenings. Saturday was neat because his buddy turned 17 and wanted to go to an "R" rated movie sans parents - so they did! Kind of an interesting way to celebrate a 17th birthday. Ever notice how many movies are rated "R?" I think they throw in a cuss word or naked shot just to get the "R" rating - other than that, I often have a hard time distinguishing the difference from PG13. On the other hand, once in a while I see an "R" movie that is so violent and over-the-top that they should have an "OMG" rating! The movie they saw last night was like that - the boys said it was really a lot of gore and gratuitous violence (it was the new superhero movie).

I managed to walk both yesterday and today, in the rain and wind! Today marks my official first day of the President's Physical Fitness Challenge. I participated years ago, when I was pregnant with Harrison and far surpassed the fitness requirements at that time (and got a certificate). The program is different now, with levels. So, I signed up for the first level so I can get all the certificates eventually! Another plus is that you get awarded for years of participation. I'm fired up to do this again!! I selected weight lifting, walking, stationary bike, and aerobics for my activities. I am READY to go!!

Humor for Those of Us Working In Mental Health

This might make our lives a little easier at the Mental Health Hospital! Actually, I bet most of our patients would get a kick out of this!!


Hello. Welcome to the Psych Hotline

If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2.

If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.

If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line so we can trace the call.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer.

If you are anxious, just start pressing numbers at random.

If you are phobic, don't press anything.

If you are anal retentive, please hold.