Feet are FUN!

Oh, for the simple joys in life...a lesson from Carter.

Carter has found his feet and apparently they are quite amusing. He loves to complicate diaper changes by throwing his legs up in the air and grabbing on to his feet. It makes him giggle.

I think the next time I begin to fret over life's complications...aka "adult responsibilities"...I should take a lesson learned from Carter and throw my legs up in the air, grab my feet and giggle. Oh, if only...

Tampons...the only thing that should be in a tube

I had a CAT scan this morning. My first. I pray it will be my last.

I knew what to expect going in to the test. You lie on a table, they slip you into a giant tortilla, you drift gently to sleep due to the inactivity and boredom and then you're done. Only problem is...it didn't quite go like I expected. Who knew that once they rolled me into the tube (only as far as my waist) that I would suddenly develop a severe case of claustrophobia and freak out?? Did the technicians know what they were doing?? What were those fine print warnings about not having the test done if you're on certain meds?? Why didn't anyone ask what meds I'm on?? What if this thing blows up with me inside?? What if I get stuck?? Why do I have this sudden urge to scream, cry, jump off the table and run away?? When will this end??

In truth, the test only took about 3 minutes. Try holding your breath for 3 minutes and you'll realize just how long that is! It was, without a doubt, the longest 3 minutes of my life. Sorta like being buried alive...I guess. Not that I've ever been buried alive...but you get the point. In a nutshell...I did not have a good time and no, thank you, I don't wish to EVER do it again!

Oh, G....

On February 27th we drove to the Winstar Casino to see Kenny G. We'd had the tickets for about a month and we (Virgil, Carlene and I) were eagerly looking forward to the concert. Ronnie...not so much. He thought it would be boring. Well...suffice it to say that it was an incredible concert...very high energy and featuring solos by an awesome Swedish bassist and an indescribable percussion man. It was magic. Kenny...Mr. G...the Gster...whatever...KG began the concert at the back of the auditorium in the "cheap seats." He then worked his way toward the front. Our seats were on the back row of the front section and he stopped right behind our seats, looked at us and continued to play for a half minute or so. To see his fingers flying across that instrument was truly amazing!

Of course, knowing where we were going, we decided to drive up early and play a few slots. Good decision. Ronnie was the first to "hit big" if you can call turning $20 into $216 "big." I call it big. He took $100 bucks with him and ended up coming home with $200. Nice profit. I played a slot machine called Fortune Teller. I was blindly hitting the "repeat bet" button having no clue what to watch for. I don't take time to read the pay tables. At any rate, I hit a bonus spin which gave me six opportunities to ask the fortune teller questions (pick cards). As long as you get "good fortune" as a response you keep picking for the maximum six times. I was lucky...rather, I had good fortune. I got to move on to the "golden card" which is a multiplier. I was sitting there watching the screen when it popped up the number 14,563. I thought, "Awesome. I won 14 bucks." Then it hit me...there had to be a decimal in there somewhere...like between the 5 and the 6. So I got REALLY excited when I realized that it was $145 and change. All that from $20. Now, I realize that in the big scheme of things this is chump change...but it felt good to be a winner. I took $100 and came home with $210. Woo-hoo!

Carlene is another story. We figured her profit to be around $300. She plays with wild abandon. She bets on poker machines and maxes her bet...and wins. The problem...she can't quit. She can't walk away. At one point we saw her physically struggle with herself to cash out of a slot at $300. She truly enjoys gambling and is fun to watch. Virgil, on the other hand, is not a gambler/game player. He views it as a very expensive form of entertainment. Even he walked away breaking even.

This was my second trip to Winstar. The first time I broke even. This time I won a bit. CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!!!!! Can anyone get me the number for Gambler's Anonymous???

Bingo!!

It has to be in the title because it is certainly not anything any of us got an opportunity to yell out Thursday night! There were numerous times that each of us was "set"...lacking one more number to win...but then some yahoo would make us cringe as they excitedly yelled out, "BINGO!" ::sigh:: It was hard to be excited for them...no, it was impossible!

We did, however, have a scrumptious meal at Pappasito's served by a delightfully refreshing and energetic young man named "T." He happily took this picture for us.

All in all, it was a good night!

The child in me...

My inner child has strep. I got up Tuesday morning feeling dizzy and a bit nauseated along with tired to the core of my being. I finally lay down for a nap and after waking myself up snoring a half dozen times...I got up. I actually felt better. In the afternoon I felt good enough to go outside and begin painting the trim on our house...something that has needed to be done for about three years! I came in...took a shower...and started feeling like CRAP. During the day I had begun to develop a sore throat, so finally I looked at my throat in the mirror. Much to my horror, right there in the reflection in front of me, were the dreaded "cotton patches" on my tonsils. I knew what that meant. My mom always said, "Cotton on the tonsils means strep throat." Still...

After I left my half day teaching assignment today...(yes, I went to work. Don't judge me! Just once my mom might be wrong...though not likely!)...I ran by Dr. S's office for a throat swab. Diagnosis..."classic case of strep."

If there is a positive side to this it may be that I will be more compassionate in the future. I had forgotten what it felt like to have strep (and the doctor assured me that it is a bit different for adults since we don't normally run a high temp with strep). I feel like "poo poo." My shoulders and neck hurt...my throat hurts...I have a headache...I'm soooo tired...and I just feel like crap in general. The doc says those are all classic symptoms of strep so she wasn't at all surprised that the culture immediately gave a positive reading. She says some adults don't even have a sore throat with strep. Guess I'm just lucky!

I was ready to blame all of this discomfort on the munchkins I work with daily until...

It seems that the day before my trials began my beloved (?) husband woke up feeling light headed with a pretty bad headache. He took it easy through the day and downed a dozen or so tylenol. Hhmmmm...I met him at the door tonight and looked at his throat. Guess what??? There they were...giving away his guilt...tiny little patches at the back of his throat! Damn that man...I've told him not to breathe on me at night!!! Somehow there is no consolation in knowing that he must feel as badly as I do.

And the winner is.....

Hopefully I had the last medical appointment today for my "problem." I saw a neurologist today who has diagnosed me with "benign essential tremors." What the hell....? According to this doctor (the fifth medical appt. in two weeks!) I am experiencing a medical condition in which the gross motor nerves (?)....muscles (?)...are having a tiff. The ones that control side to side movement are battling with the ones that control up and down movement. Oh. And the cause? There is no known cause. And the treatment...take two pills a day and call me in two months.

I guess I should be grateful. Dr. S says I have the bloodwork of an 18 year old Olympic athlete and from all indications my heart will keep pumping until I'm at least 110. I am neither diabetic nor hypoglycemic. The ENT specialist says I am not hypoxic. The EMG says I don't have any neuromuscular diseases, carpal tunnel, pinched nerves or degenerative conditions. And now the neurologist says this is not a major problem. Guess what...it is for me. Seriously, I am grateful for a relatively clean bill of health, but why are my gross motor skills degenerating and why can't anybody make it go away? I am clearly not in "perfect condition" and it's getting pretty damned frustrating that no one can seem to suggest a remedy that offers hope and doesn't involve flooding my body with even more chemicals than I am already ingesting!

Thank goodness this blog can be typed...my handwriting looks like crap!

Hooray for Presidents' Day!

Holidays are...great! Yes, even "fake" holidays like Presidents' Day. I love knowing ahead of time that there is no possible way for me to work that day...so I can do whatever I want. What I wanted to do today included sleeping in. I don't think that 8:30 is an unreasonable time to start the day...unless it's p.m. So I slept in. Getting up, I savored a delicious cup, or two, of coffee flavored with white chocolate raspberry creamer. Yummy!!! Several games of Wii bowling later I decided that I now had the energy to load the dishwasher and clean the kitchen. At my leisure I did a few loads of laundry. You'll be happy to know that we can now towel dry after our showers! Lunch and a nap followed and then I managed to sneak in a few episodes of the NCIS marathon on USA Network. Then a few games of Wii darts and skiball preceeded a long, luxurious bubble bath. Lord, do I love to exfoliate! My favorite dinner of cereal and a STARS game topped off what I believe to be a very delicious day of relaxation and indulgence. A self-pedicure topped off a totally awesome day. Now, when is the next "holiday:???