CT

This entry was originally going to be about the CT Scan I had today - but - I didn't get the CT Scan today. Not because I was suddenly better -No - its because my insurance company needs to pre-authorize this test. Some guy in a suit, sitting behind a desk, calculating numbers is going to decide whether or not I get a CT Scan to figure out why my head has been hurting for 8 Frickin Weeks!!!!!!!! As if he knows better than my doctor. The insurance company will decide whether they think the doctor has done everything she can that isn't an expensive diagnostic test. It will take them 3 - 5 days to review the case and decide whether to authorize it. So - I cancelled my appointment and rescheduled it for next Friday morning. In the meantime - I get to suffer with the headache. As well as enjoy the lovely ringing in my right ear which is now being accompanied by a high pitched squeal in my left ear. Not to mention that next week is month end - fun fun fun!!

Have I mentioned that this has made me crankier than ever!! I want to hit something - anyone want to come over and let me smack 'em around a bit!!

De

Charlotte

One morning when I left the house I noticed a spider hanging on the stairwell outside - well, not on the stairwell - it was on the railing who9ch is right outside my door. As you know - I Do Not Like Spiders!! This one was small- didn't move when I walked past it - didn't have anything disgusting hanging from the web. I figured it would probably have moved on by the time I got home from work. Nope - still there when I got home. I could see it as I walked up the last flight of stairs to my door. I carefully walked by it - giving it as wide a berth as possible in such a narrow area - and let myself into my home. Phew - made it past without it jumping at me or moving towards me.

For the next few mornings I would carefully look to see if it was still there - yup, in the same spot, hadn't moved. Hmmm . . . . maybe it was already dead . . . . if it was already dead it would be easier to move . . . . so I blew on the web. Ahhh!! Moved!! Not Dead!! I said Sorry and went on my way to work. After a couple mornings like that - me checking if it was there and still alive - we had a small routine . . . .Every Morning I would say "Good-Bye Charlotte" and every evening I would blow on the web and then say "Good, your still alive Charlotte. Good Night Charlotte" - I named her Charlotte! :-P

One morning last week as I was leaving there was a small fly buzzing around my head - I said "Charlotte, aren't you suppose to be taking care of these" I swatted at it - caught it with the back of my hand - and hit it directly into Charlotte's Web! The actual web not the book! She moved right on it - and started having her snack. As I left I said "OK Charlotte, remember who fed you!" Again - I'm not a spider person but I was actually getting a little attached and I liked Charlotte.

Saturday I went to visit Lyd - when I came home I noticed John L Scott Open House signs pointing towards my building - my stack - up my stairs. The until next to mine has been empty and on the market for almost a year. I started going up the last set of stairs - looked up as usual - Charlotte Wasn't There!! Maybe she just crawled up to a corner and I couldn't see her. Nope - her web was gone too!! The real estate agent Killed Charlotte!!!! My little spider friend was killed for the possibility of someone coming to look at a condo! Poor Poor Charlotte!!

De

**Headache Update - still here and now I have an annoying ringing in my right ear. Went back to the Dr today and I will be going in for a CT Scan tomorrow**

Way Too Much

There has just been so much different stuff going on lately that I haven't written - I'm not even sure where to start. Let's see - last Friday I had my tooth pulled. It went a lot better than I thought it would. I've had a tooth pulled before but I was knocked out for that one. This time I opted for just Novocaine - to go under you need to have an adult there to drive you home which I didn't have - the surgeon said that with a tooth like mine they usually just do Novocaine anyways. I was a little stressed out - mostly the fear of the unknown. The shots were the most painful part of the procedure - the actual pulling of the tooth only took 15 minutes. I drove myself home - took lots of meds - cooked up soft food to eat.

Saturday morning at 1:30 I received a phone call I never wanted - it was from . . . . .L . . . surprise surprise . . . she was calling all stressed out and in tears - she needed me to do her a favor. Could I buy her a pregnancy test! Oh good lord - not what either of us needs. I told her I would do it for her. I picked it up and brought it over to her on Sunday. I went to Walgreens to buy it - I was embarrassed and felt so white trash! I bought Halloween candy and a few other items so that the pregnancy test wasn't the only thing in my basket. I know you're all on the edge of your seat . . . . .the test came back negative!! Deep Heavy Sigh of Relief!

Since Friday I have only had 1 day headache free :-( That was Sunday and I was taking my meds every 4 hours. The headache has come back today. I went to the chiropractor after work to see if my neck was out - that was the only other thing I could think of that could be causing the headaches - my neck wasn't out. My left hip was but I don't think it was causing my headache. I got all adjusted and am now back at home . . . . head still hurting. Dang it!

So - not sure what I will do next. Probably give the doc a call tomorrow.

De

Trying To Solve The Headache Question

Headache Update - still hasn't gone away - even the Vicodin doesn't make it go away. I started thinking a little more about what might be causing it - a few months ago I had to go to the dentist for a broken crown - they did a temporary fix on it and said the tooth could not be saved and I would need to have it pulled at some point. Now - even though the tooth is not bothering me like a regular toothache it could be causing the headaches.

I went to the Oral Surgeon today and the x-ray showed a small infection in the root. I am on another antibiotic and I am scheduled to have the tooth removed Friday morning. Keep your fingers crossed that this cures the headaches. If it doesn't - it will be back to the medical doc and try to figure it out. In case you lost count - the headache has lasted 6+ weeks. :-P

I will work tomorrow - take care of the tooth on Friday - take the rest of the day and the weekend to recover. I will keep you posted.

De

Fantasy Football or a Nightmare!

Being a fan does not necessarily translate into being a great owner! I love football . . . . I am a crappy owner! On paper my Fantasy Team looks pretty good – in actuality my team pretty much sucks! I am on a 4 game losing streak – my record is 1 – 5 – I am in last place.

I second guess the moves I’m going to make. Week 5 my top QB – Drew Brees – was on a Bye week. My back-up QB was Matt Hasselbeck who was coming off of a rib injury. I thought – man, he hasn’t played for 2 weeks – he’s still not 100% - I probably shouldn’t take a chance – so I got rid of him and brought in a new back-up. Who knew that Matt would have an absolutely incredible game!!! Bam – Bam – Bam – that’s me banging my head against the wall.

So – week 6 I got rid of my back-up QB and brought back Matt. Now I needed to decide who I was going to play – Drew or Matt. I went back and forth – posted on FB that I needed help. When I went to bed Saturday night I had Drew Brees in to play. When I woke up Sunday I benched Drew and started Matt. OMG!!!! Who knew he could go from being great to being crap in just one week!!

I was playing my sister’s team – Team Moose (my team is Scooby Gang – refer back to Buffy). I lost 77 – 138. I left 140 points on my bench!! My bench beat her team!! Drew would have given me 59 points!! But NO – I went with Matt who gave me -2 points! That’s right – negative 2!!

Will I be able to climb out of this Losing Streak! I play Lindsay’s Team – Shorkie Attack this coming Sunday. Do I play Drew or Matt? Whomever I bench – they will be the one to have a breakout game!!

Almost half-way through the season – will I be able to stop the bleeding? I just want the season to be over.

De

The Divorce Is Final!!!

Yes - after 18 years my divorce is final!!

It was legal 17 years ago but it wasn't "final" until today! There has been this one pesky little thing that has kept it from actually being over and final. . . . . . . . . Past Due Child Support!! At one point it was over $20K. As of today it is $0!! I received the final payment of $11.16 today! It is over.

It has been a long haul with many angry conversations, legal battles, papers being served and accusations of taking money from his other children. As of today we are no longer legally joined together. It is over.

Our daughter L is still the one thing we have that joins us. But she is a legal adult and he doesn't really seem to care about her or what happens to her it's not really a strong tie. It is over.

I am divorced. Time to get on with my life.

De

Blah

I have been dealing with a minor headache for the past 4 weeks. One of those headaches that is kind of irritating but not so bad that you can’t move. I have been feeling pretty run down too – not sure if it was related to the headache or if I was just tired. It has been going on for so long that I was beginning to think that it was normal. My niece Lindsay finally convinced me to go to the doctors to see what was going on.

I went Tuesday afternoon to get checked out. It’s very difficult to answer some of the questions when it’s been going on for so long. Which came first – the feeling of blah and not wanting to do anything or the headache? I always go through periods of feeling really blah – depressed – so it was hard to think of which came first. During the month though, I have had a few days of a sore throat, a few days of the stomach flu, aches and pains. They wanted to test for a bladder infection – why is it that when a nurse hands you that plastic cup your body just shuts down!! Unbelievable!! 15 minutes later I had to go to the lab and have blood drawn instead so they could test for infections. In the meantime I got a steroid nose spray in case it is sinus related, prescription for stronger Advil to reduce any swelling, and a prescription for Vicodin for the pain. Went home – took the meds – went to sleep.

Yesterday I got up and still felt pretty much the same – other than feeling a little extra tired – Vicodin Hangover. Went to work – didn’t take the pain meds because I didn’t want to fall asleep at my desk. I got a call from the Dr in the afternoon and my blood work had come back with elevated white cell counts – meaning there is an infection somewhere just not sure where. So now I am taking an antibiotic. I feel like a prescription pill junkie! :P

Today I am feeling a little better – not quite as tired. I am taking tomorrow off though so I can get some sleep. The headache is still here – I need to give it another 24 hours to give the antibiotic time to start working.

You are probably asking yourself – why would she wait 4 weeks to go get this taken care of. When you start feeling blah – there comes a point in time when you begin to think that this is normal. You have felt this way for so long that you don’t remember anything different. Like I said – the headache isn’t blinding pain – OMG I can’t move my head – It’s just a slightly irritating headache. Quite awhile ago I was diagnosed with depression – taking meds for it – but I have lived with that feeling of tiredness and blahness that it just seems normal to me. So these past 4 weeks have been “normal”. So step one is to get this headache taken care of and then step 2 will be to get my other meds adjusted if the blahs don’t leave with the pain.

I do think that the reason why I haven’t blogged much lately is because of feeling lethargic. Hopefully once I feel better my blogging will step back up. I will keep you posted!

De

Celebrations

Columbus Day – A day set aside to celebrate the explorer that found America. When I was in school I remember learning about Columbus – In Fourteen Hundred Ninety-Two Columbus sailed the ocean blue! He was an explorer that set out and landed in America.

I listened to the news throughout the day yesterday and it just amazed me how so many people had this attitude that we shouldn’t be celebrating Columbus. It’s not correct to celebrate someone who came and turned the indigenous people of America in to slaves. I don’t get it – back in Columbus’s day that is what they did – it was acceptable behavior back then. Does it make it right by today’s standards – No. I would agree that if an explorer today found an island and enslaved its inhabitants it would not be right – but this was back in the 1400’s! People these days take being “Politically Correct” to the extreme. I am amazed that people who are my age seem to lead this way of thinking saying they don’t want their children to be exposed to this – really?? Tell me how learning about Columbus and having Columbus Day damaged you!!

On that same note – last year the Superintendent of Seattle Schools sent out a memo saying that the schools should not “Celebrate” Thanksgiving because of how it is really not a day of celebration for the Native Americans. How did we get to this point where we have to worry about everybody’s feelings? It has made us into a society where we only have free speech and free thinking as long as it doesn’t offend a particular group of people. This comes up this time of year a lot as we get closer to the holidays –

• No more dressing up as witches on Halloween at school because it might offend the Wicken Religion.
• Don’t dress as a devil or a ghost because it represents evil
• We have Winter Break – not Christmas Break so we don’t offend non-Christian groups. What about offending the Christians by telling them they can’t celebrate their religion – as if there’s something wrong with it.

Again – how did dressing as a witch or coloring a Christmas Tree harm us when we were kids? I understand that we need to evolve with the changing times – I just think we have moved so far to the other end of the spectrum. So – celebrate what you want as long as you don’t do it in public or share your celebrations with anyone else because you might hurt their feelings.

That's just my opinion.

De

What A Ride

What a ride Friday was – ups, downs, excitement, disappointment, and 1 WTH moment!

• Up - Yay Finally Friday
• Down – Feeling a little irritable and snapping at a co-worker
• Up – received an email from Colleen and she picked me up a bag of Tootsie Pop Drops!
• Excitement – listened to Dori Monson one on one with the Nuns – knew the answer to his question and called in to win Seahawks tickets – looking for caller 9 – phone rang!
• Disappointment – You are caller 3! Got a busy signal when I tried to call back.
• Excitement – The Ron and Don Show are giving away a pair of tickets too!
• Disappointment – their contest was a montage of movie sports speeches and you needed to know the name of the movie and the actor.
• Excitement – they posted the montage and you had a half an hour before calling in. So I listened to it again and typed the first parts of each speech in to Google and was able to get the movie and actor!
• Disappointment – Hello you’re caller 1. You’re Caller 4. You’re Caller 7.
• Excitement – Hold Please!!! I think I won!!
• Disappointment – Thank you but we have our winner. This means I was after caller 9 and whoever was caller 9 had the correct answer.
• WTH – I was walking to the bus after work and as I came to the crosswalk at 4th and Pine I heard a loud crashing noise. I looked up and on the other side of Pine Street was a person smashing a hand held cart on wheels onto the sidewalk and breaking it in to small pieces. She was saying something very loudly at the same time but I couldn’t understand her. Now I had to make a decision – cross the street and walk by this person or stay on my side and walk up to the next crosswalk which is right by the McDonalds on 3rd that is known for being a gang hangout – There are usually a couple cops hanging around there Friday nights. I decided to cross the street and give this person a wide berth and walk on by.

Saturday –

• Up - Muppet had a grooming appointment at 8am. I dropped her off and went to Starbucks to read. I finished the new Dan Brown book The Lost Symbol. Very very good!! Well worth the 4 year wait!!
• Down – WSU lost yet again.

Sunday –

• Up – Seahawks won!! They not only won – they buried Jacksonville!
• Down – My Fantasy Football team sucks! My rookie year is not going well.

Monday –

• No ups yet – while I was getting ready this morning Muppet had a small seizure. It has thrown my whole schedule off. Sometimes I wish we had a reset button we could push when the day doesn’t start out like we would like.

De

What A Morning

I got up early this morning due to the fact the poor little Muppy was not feeling well. She had been dry hacking during the night – which is a really really annoying sound when you’re trying to sleep. So she came over to me this morning after I had hit snooze a couple times and she curled up by my shoulder. She then proceeded to hack again – and it wasn’t dry this time – she got sick on my shoulder. Yuck!! So – no more hitting snooze – I got up and locked her up in the kitchen so if she was going to get sick again it would be on linoleum and I went and jumped in the shower. So my morning started earlier than usual and I thought – no problem, I’ll get an early start to work and then I can come home early. So I got ready – took Muppy outside – she was not looking well. So – as a concerned Mom I decided I needed to keep an eye on her – which meant getting the webcam out and setting up Muppet Cam so I could watch her while I was at work. This took a bit of time and I ended up running a little later than I had planned on.

I got in my car – started it – pulled the Metro schedule out of my purse to check on the bus times and to see if I was going to take the bus or drive to work. This was decision had an effect on the rest of my morning – you see if I was going to drive in I would have to turn right out of the driveway in order to go to the Shell station and fill the tank . . and . . if I was taking the bus I would need to turn left out of the driveway. The next bus was leaving in 8 minutes and if I don’t get stuck behind slow cars I could make it. The next bus was 12 minutes after that. I decided to take the bus so I turned left. Now – when you turn left you drive by Challenger Elementary – the speed limit is 20 mph on this road. It wasn’t anywhere near the time for school to start so I wasn’t really worried about kids or cops. oooops!! Now – I wasn’t going too much over the limit – not enough road to really get the speed up yet – I was at 25 mph when I passed the school going towards a park and there stood Mister King County Sheriff waving at my car and pointing to the parking lot at the park. Ah Crap!! Come on – he didn’t have a radar gun and I wasn’t going that fast! He asked me how fast I thought I was going and I told him between 20 – 25. He pointed to the speed limit sign and said the limit is 20 and you were getting close to 30 (again – no radar gun so not sure where he pulled that number from) there are kids crossing the road here and you need to be able to stop for them. He then told me he was trying to get the kids to use the crosswalk but that they tend to cross anywhere and without warning (there were no kids on the sidewalks or crosswalks when he pulled me over so it wasn’t like I was about to hit someone – I was paying attention). He then told me to slow down and have a nice day! Phew! No Ticket! My luck is still intact!

I pulled out of the parking lot and proceeded down the road at 20 mph! I flashed my lights at some oncoming cars that looked like they were going a little too fast to warn them about the cop. I got to the park and ride in time to catch the second bus at 7:41.

I have been watching Muppet Cam and so far all she’s been doing is sleeping. Now – Buffy on the other hand has been getting in to trouble! She has jumped the baby gate twice now to drink Muppet’s water and eat Muppet’s food. She also started playing with the one and only toy that Muppet likes – her snowflake man. I just looked right now and poor little Muppet is leaning against the baby gate and big mean Buffy is lying in the dog bed. I need to have a camera set up here at work and streaming on a computer at home so I can tell Buffy to move! Man – wouldn’t that freak her out! I may have to think about that!!

De

What Am I Missing

Yesterday I listened to the Dori Monson Show on the radio – he usually is railing about government and taxes but for the last hour of his show one of his topics was things you can’t find or get anymore.

This topic started because Monday night he was craving Burgundy Cherry Ice Cream and couldn't find it anywhere – he found cherry ice cream but the cherries were just little slivers so he went back out and bought a jar of maraschino cherries. I remember Burgundy Cherry Ice Cream – the cherries were big and juicy and wonderful. So he asked the audience to call in and talk about things they couldn't get anymore. I thought of a couple items during the show – which I instant messaged to him – but when I got home last night and started thinking about it I came up with a few more – I also thought of some things we were able to do as kids that today’s kids can’t do.

1. Quisp Cereal – I remember the box had a Martian type alien on the box and the cereal was in the shape of a space ship.
2. Tootsie Pop Drops – these came in a roll just like lifesavers. They were like a Tootsie Pop but smaller and flatter and without the stick. I loved these. I have visited quite a few retro candy websites and have not been able to find them.
3. Restaurant in Bellevue called House of Pies! I remember going here when I was younger after the family bought our new car – a Vega! You walked through cafeteria style and you picked out which kind of pie you wanted. I do believe I got a slice of chocolate cream pie. Someone needs to open one of these up again.
4. Farrell’s! Can you say Pig Trough! I think I still have a ribbon from there that said I Made A Pig of Myself at Farrell’s in one of my scrap books.
5. Playing Red Rover Red Rover. Kids aren’t allowed to be kids anymore. The rules that are enforced on the school playground don’t allow kids to be kids. Everyone is so afraid of someone getting hurt and/or getting sued.
6. Real Lawn Darts – really, what’s wrong with throwing a heavy dart with a very sharp tip around the yard with people standing around. Especially when you are young and don’t have a whole lot of control over where things go when you throw them.

What do you miss?

De

Arrest That Kid . . . . He Has a Candy Bar!!

I read the most interesting bit of news on the elevator this evening - yeah I said elevator! There is a screen in the elevator that shows new stories - has a word of the day - weather - sports. While I was riding down the elevator tonight a headline caught my eye just as we were getting to the bottom floor - Daily Sweets Can Turn Kids into Violent Adults, Study Claims - I finished the story just as the doors opened - I got off as did the guy that was riding with me and we both just had to chuckle - My first thought was - how much money did they spend to do this study and who paid for it. Here is the first part of the story that was on the elevator:

Children who eat sweets daily are more likely to be violent as adults, a new study suggests.

Data from 17,500 participants in the 1970 British Cohort Study found that 10-year-olds who ate chocolates or other confectionaries daily were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence by age 34.

Well - at least it looks like the British paid for this study and not the American Taxpayers! So - I guess - the solution to violence in America is to outlaw chocolate and sweets - or make it like alcohol and you have to be 21 in order to buy a candy bar!! Glad I'm old enough!

Go here if you want to read the rest of the story.

De