I'm Outta Here !!!

I can feel it in the air.
Just the thought of it skips electric across my skin.
Hair stands on end.
The time is near.
Only hours, really.


The annual trek I make with my daughter to gather with women friends for a spiritual retreat. It is much like Hemmingway’s Movable Feast, always in a different location. This year it is in Ft. Worth. Many of the women I only see once a year, but over the last 15 years I’ve come to love them dearly. http://www.doraltesoro.com/

Needless to say, I’ll be out of pocket for a few days, but I promise you’ll like me better when I get back. I am sooo looking forward to this. (I look forward to it all year, truthfully.) The very first thing I am going to do is hit the massage tables.

Last Post Ended: "Then you open the door..."

Except today, I can't even open the door.

The back sliding door (that puppy uses) keeps freezing shut and we have to get knives and hairdryers to keep it open.

I think part of the problem is that it's in the hot tub room. In cold weather the tub runs constantly to keep the pipes and mechanical "stuff" from freezing. The inside of the sliding doors (They face north so we have 2 - one inside the other.) develop condensation and then freeze leaving "Wintry Mix" clumped like iceflows down the inside of the doors.

Arggggh!!!

It's made me think about those Ice Hotels you see on the travel chanel. Theirs always look so much more romantic. (See photo above)
Canada: http://www.icehotel-canada.com/en/images/photos/index.en.php
Sweden: http://www.scantours.com/ice_hotel.htm

On a more positive note, I've used this down time to catch up on my critiques. Because of my health I've had to miss a couple of critique group meetings--which I really, really hate to do. (They "will" talk about you if you're not there. Evil people. Evil to the core. Which is probably why I love them so much.) Lately they have been writing like the demons from hell were on their tails (or keyboards). I have one more person's WIP to do this morning and then I can focus on my own, which doesn't have an editor's deadline looming in it's face.

Ice and Winter Quotes for the Day:

“If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance” - Unknown

“Love is like racing across the frozen tundra on a snowmobile which flips over, trapping you underneath. At night, the ice-weasels come.” -Groening

“A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.” - Kafka

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” - Schweitzer

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." -Carl Reiner

"In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, Long ago."
- Christina Rossetti

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." -Albert Camus

2 Day Forcast: Wintry Mix

Wintry Mix.
It has such a pleasant sound to it. You think of mulled cider, roasting marshmallows, a fireplace and friends. Or hot coco and a good book. There is a delicacy to it. A softness. Winter’s caress filled with nostalgia and fresh clean air.

It’s not the same as “sleet” and “freezing rain". Those words snap and crack like the rigid sound of breaking glass. Violent words. Empty of warmth. If uttered, the populous would vacate town for warmer climes, leaving no one to maintain even the most basic of services.

It's looks are deceptive, wintry mix, all filigree and crystal lace. Moaning a deep seductive song as the sparkling branches dance against the sky. A glistening land of diamonds and fairies sprung up overnight like Brigadoon. Ah, where are the pipes and flautists? Let the dancing begin!

And then… you open the door.

Rough Night

Had problems with my esophagus and stomach until 6 o’clock this morning.

I think the tube they put down my throat really messed something up. I had a lot of reflux and pain. Having trouble swallowing because it feels swollen.

Other than that and the resulting lack of sleep, I’m feeling fine. Tired. But fine. No pain except my throat and esophagus.

What inquiring minds may or may not want to know.

Okay. I found today's photo while googling "happy face". While it doesn’t look like me and doesn’t really relate to the topic of health, I just found it too inspiring to pass up. ;-)

I know. I'm bad.

Without going into a lot of gory details, everything went pretty well yesterday. The only problems were that instead of 1 hour in recovery it took 2 ½ hours because they were having trouble with “pain control”, and my throat is still very sore from the tube they ran down my esophagus. Other than that, I am doing VERY well today and not really experiencing much pain at all.

See. All those positive thoughts and prayers worked.

Great Job, ladies.

V-Day is V-Day is V-Day. The rest is just a Number

Very bad stock photo from their web page. Sorry.

My Sunday night Valentine's day was very romantic. Ben reserved the Moghul Room at Gopuram India Restaurant. It was a private area with draped curtains over the door and window. Very low couches and table. ( Deep rich colors. Brocade pillows. Candlelight. Gallo Sonama Cabernet Sauvignon (wonderful) wine. Flowers on the table.

The waiter would come in and kneel at the table to take our orders or to serve us. The owner knew I would be otherwise occupied on the 14th, so we were served the 5 course Valentine's Day dinner. Except, instead of having a set menu, we were each allowed to pick anything we wanted for no extra charge. (Gopuram chat, Chicken Pakora, Chicken tikka, Kheema Masala, Samosa, a lentil soup, mango icecream, and gulab Jamun) The food and service was wonderful. After dinner they told us to just relax and not to feel any hurry to leave. We spent a good deal of the evening reminiscing by candlelight. It couldn't have been better.

Tonight we went to the movies, "Rumor has It". Very funny.

17 Degrees - Holy Hypothermia !!!

That's right.
It was 17 degrees this morning. Only God knows what the windchill was. I had to send puppy out into that freezer to visit her great green potty! Of course, right now the yard looks more like hay than grass.

I'm sure those of you in the northern states are laughing at my wimpyness. I swear to you. Cold here is colder than cold where you are. (Or maybe any cold near me always seems colder than cold could possibly be anywhere else.) It makes the skin burn and the bones ache.

I would love to curl up in front of the fireplace with a hot cuppa anything and my writing notebooks or a good novel. Unfortunately, I have to run some errands and help my husband at the office for a while (It's tax season and he's a CPA). So staying home and keeping my tootsies toasty is out of the question. Damn.

Someone needs to hire new weatherpersons who will give us better weather.

The Vanishing Holiday

Guess who gets to go into the hospital at 6:30 in the morning on Valentine's day !!!

What a love gift!

The 2 procedures (D&C and ablation) won't actually be until 8:45 but they want me there early.

Ben and I will need to celebrate Valentine's Day Saturday or Sunday since I'll be limited in what I can do the night before. Ben is very romantic and I think he was hoping we could spend it doing something a little more fun. Oh, well. We'll just have to make Sat. or Sun. really special.

Any ideas?

God is a Woman

On another blog today there was an exciting post and discussion about the various religions and divinity. It caused me to think. (Always a dangerous thing, I've been told.) I've come to the following conclusion.

I think there is absolute proof that god is a woman.

Wrinkles.

If god were male, women would become slimmer, sexier and drop dead gorgeous as they aged. Each decade more unbelievably beautiful than the one before. Being a woman, however, she is jealous of anyone with any beauty approaching her in age, so she damns them with wrinkles. Not just any wrinkles, but sliding off of your face in mega folds wrinkles. And boobs that droop to the navel, and chin whiskers that make grandma look like a mutated cat. Oh, yes. The deity is definitely female. And she likes boys better.

Jumping for Joy - Sort of. . .

The nurse called.
The biopsy came back negative.
Negative is good.

It looks like I may be able to avoid the hysterectomy. The MD will phone sometime later today to schedule a combination D&C and endometrial ablation, both are a much simpler process.

What kind of Cat are you?

You are a Maine Coon! You are larger than life, a
gentle giant. You are independent, but very
affectionate with your friends and family.

Click below and find out.
What breed of cat are you?

Singapore

I've been getting a bunch of hits today from Singapore over at the Journey of a 1000 Miles blog. http://www.thejourneyofa1000miles.blogspot.com/
I was surfing around this morning and came across the blog of a young man who sounded pretty depressed about something. The crux of it was, he appeared to feel that happiness was illusive and unattainable. There was something about the tone that concerned me, so I left him a message which also linked him to my Journey blog. I very quickly went to it and posted a post on happiness. I've been getting hits from all over Singapore ever since. He must have told other kids at the school about the crazy American Lady and they are loging on too.
I've forgotten the name of his blog and have no idea how to get back to it. I hope he is doing okay.

The February MeMe

The Challenge is out to Rinda, Bonnie, Dana, Kelli, Jenn and my CPs (they know who they are).

· If you were a food, what would you be? Chocolate!! (There’s another food?)
· What do you think is the greatest invention? Why? The printing press (I should probably say cures for plagues and major diseases, but I so love to read.)
· What is your earliest childhood memory? Standing by the screen to the front door and praying for a little brother or sister.
· Is there something that you memorized long ago and still remember? The fingerspelling alphabet to the hearing impaired.
· Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under? Over
· What is your favorite season of the year? Why? Spring. It is overflowing with the almost tangible energy of new beginnings.
· What superpower would you like to have? What would you do with it? I would like the power to hear what people are thinking. I would eavesdrop on everybody and know who my true friends are.
· If you had to move to another state, which one would you choose? New Mexico where I have close friends, or Colorado/Wyoming where they have very tall mountains.

OUCH !

The endometrial Biopsy is over. Won't have the results till tomorrow or Monday. The uterus lining should have been about 5mm thick. It had grown to a density of 13.5mm. Not good. The progression Dr. Nanda described was that first the lining thickens, then benign and/or abnormal tumor cells may begin to develop, then possibly cancer. The Dr. felt pretty certain that it wasn't malignant. We'll know more once the biopsy results come back.
Still having cramps. Hope they end soon.