Coffee Flavored Kisses

During the summer, I joined the Adult Reading Program at my public library. I joined primarily because we were talking books, which I love to do, and because I was hoping to meet some new people. I have have done both.

One of the people I have met is this lovely elderly lady (I believe she’s 86) named Helen. Mrs. Helen is quite simply a doll. I don’t know much about her background, but I bet it involved some struggle, but what makes her so delightful is her attitude. She has determined she will see the best in people, and look at things as an adventure, not see the fears and the gloom. I want to follow that example.

Now, Mrs. Helen is probably worlds apart from me in preferred reading material and from others, but she has never failed to show anything but interest and curiosity about the books our varied members have brought up. When we turned ourselves into a book club, she was the first one of us to have finished the book. Not only does she have a wonderful attitude, she’s quite sharp.

I think I want to Mrs. Helen when I grow up! I also want to get to know her story, but I’m not rude enough to ask

In other news, Nor’s tumor is back, and he goes to the vet. He apparently has the worst sort of cancer a cat can have. There is only one result; everything else is to prolong life. However, I know part of my heart will break when I must let go of my first cat baby.

School has started, and things go along as usual, but perhaps if I apply Mrs. Helen’s attitude, I will feel better and thus, cope better. We shall see.

I do know this, the whim of joining that book group is paying off quite nicely.

So I did new bloodwork three weeks ago.  I heard the results yesterday; I’d have heard them earlier, but my new doctor was on vacation.  The results were good. My triglycerides were down to a normal number–not quite good, but not scary weird high.  My total cholesterol was under 200, my A1C (the diabetic number) fell 4 points, putting just a bit over the desirable number.  All of my other numbers were solid. Yay me!

My cat Nor (he and his brother Nick were my first two cats) has had a rough few weeks and so have I.

A few weeks ago, he started hiding under the bed a lot. So we started looking closely at him, and noticed his cheek was swollen. A week later, there was some blood, and so to the vet he went. So he had a tooth pulled on Sunday (two Sundays back). Doctor pulls tooth mentions cancer. We freak out a bit, but give Nor his medicine. we go back the following Friday (last Friday) for a follow-up. Vet looks at cat for two seconds and says cancer, and starts telling me about it. What I get is scared and a feeling of no hope, and basically “you might as well put him down now.” Vet does mention referral. I barely get home, and then promptly burst into tears. Michael, who has a cooler head at the moment, calls the vet and gets the referral. I cry most of the weekend. So Thursday of this week, Nor went to a specialist vet. He undergoes surgery, the vet tells me it was a nasty tumor and invasive, but they think they got 90% of it. Friday, I bring Nor home, and at the moment, I have a purring sleepy, cat on my lap. I call back this Thursday for biopsy reports, and I guess we’ll work from there. Wish us luck.

I grabbed this off Poppy Z Brite’s blog, where the comments are discussing the accuracy (or lack thereof) of the analysis.  I was most amused by this:

I write like
Johathan Swift

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I have a new doctor–my old doctor is retiring, and I didn’t even know.  I have met my new doctor, and I find I like him a great deal.

I met my doctor because I have an insulin check-up overdue.  So today, we did blood work.  Next week, I’ll go back for the results.  I know this, they have to be better than they were!

This is my new phone. It’s an HTC Aria. I almost threw it today, but I got it to reset. I was also just going to embed a picture, but my home computer isn’t letting me upload pictures today.

If it’s going to be like this all day, I’m going back to bed.

I am not a parent, but I need parenting advice.

Sister-in-law will be 22 in a couple of months, and I am not sure she will make it to that birthday because I may very well kill her.

“Why, Rosa, would you kill her?” you ask. Let me explain.

A) Said young adult will not wake herself up. She always wants someone else (namely me) to wake her up.  Now since I Have been perfectly capable of waking myself up since, oh I don’t know 10, I don’t get it.  I am of the opinion one really ought to be able to drag their own sorry butt out of bed by the age of 21. THis means there are days I don’t bother to wake her up.

B) When said 21 year old does bother to get up, she will stay in her room for hours before making an appearance, and then will whine about needing a nap.

C) I do not trust 21 year old to actually complete a task given to her.  Laundry will be started, but left to sit int he washer until someone (guess who) takes it out, puts it in the dryer, and then folds it. Carry this over to all other tasks. Now granted, she will ask if I need help, but 90% of the time, by the time she asks I have finished the task at hand.

The advice I need is well, plentiful. The problem I’d like to work on most is the last one, but any advice  on any of these will be most helpful.

I took all summer off, and June has almost passed.  I can say it has felt lovely to have no demands on my time, no 9 bajillion people calling my name.  I have had quiet time.

That said, quiet time does wear thin, so I’ve been busy.  I do my exercising–45 minutes of treadmill time and at least 30 minutes on my Wii Fit. I’m doing housework and maintaining things.  I am reading, I am watching tv.  I’m not writing, and I wish I were but my brain just doesn’t know where to go or what story to tell.

Since I’m not writing, I’m doing the other thing I do well–editing.  Mike wrote a column for our town paper, and he has gathered a bunch of them up and wants to put them in a book. I think he just wants some sort of smallish thing for family and friends.  But I am not sure what he wants,  nor am I sure he knows either! However, it’s been fun revisiting some of these things, and I had forgotten how much I liked doing editing (which is much easier than the related task of grading papers).

The editing has me revisiting and old project that I really want to get up again–the idea of an online literary journal sponsored by the college. I have a title and I have a built in graphic-artist (or two, if I look at the school). So I really need to get that going. I want to bring it to the whole community not just the school.

Also, today my new phone arrives. It’s an HTC Aria–their Android phone for ATT.  Mike’s jealous because I will have the cool phone–at least for a while.

And now, breakfast to eat!

I can’t stop crying. And unlike the Roy Orbison song, I’m not crying over you, or you, or well over anything going on in my life. However, at the slightest bit of sadness or someone’s pain or, well, anything emotional–I start to freaking cry.

Show me that freaking Dawn commercial where they are washing oil off the animals, and I start to bawl.  Show me a news story about someone working to overcome a physical issue, and waaaah tears. Lord, don’t tell me a celebrity died because then it’s tearville.

Now, I have always been sentimental.  I remember when AT&T long ago came out with that series of commercials about kids calling long distance home, and the parents would get all mushy.  Yeah, I’d tear up a little at that, but now, I’d probably be flat out bawling.  I don’t get it.

I think it’s hormonal.  It’s been worse within the last week, which was uh THAT week, but really it happens much more frequently than it used to. I know I am getting into the mid-late 40s and all that jazz, but please, tears could you just stay the heck away, or at least show up when it’s reasonable!

and for once, the living will be kind of easy.  I am off all summer–no teaching.  I plan to write, to read up in my field, to read junk, and to take care of my health, which has not been on the upswing.  My diabetes and my cholesterol numbers have decided to try to take me out, and I am fighting back.

I am prowling around looking for diabetic recipes, and trying to find things that keep my sugar from spiking. Now if only, I can drop my blood sugar down about 40 points to the normal level, and then keep it there!