Simple Indulgence

One of the ways I like to spoil myself is with a maid that comes every other week. She came and cleaned today, and it's so nice.

I love it when everything is neat. Of course, sometimes I see things that I would have done maybe more thoroughly, but this way, I get to enjoy my weekends doing other things than cleaning.

Ugh

I seem to have caught a nasty stomach virus. It began late Monday night and is just now starting to fade. The main symptoms are very painful cramps in the stomach, nausea, and low grade fever.

My diet of saltine crackers and ginger ale helps somewhat, but I feel weak. Hopefully, I'll lose weight, though!

The Big Apple for the Big Birthday

So, I'm in NYC for my birthday (yesterday) and a couple extra days. I'm imagining what it might be like to live here, and I spent most of today wandering around different neighborhoods, including the Upper West Side, Soho and Chinatown. I brought comfortable - although not great support - shoes, but my feet are killing me from all the walking.

Ok, so I wouldn't LIVE in Chinatown, but it's such a sight, I had to see it. I took a few pictures, which I'll post separately. The only thing I bought (other than a vegetarian lunch) was 2 pounds of sugar snap peas for $1!

Tonight, I'm having dinner with a new friend and his wife and kids in Brooklyn. Tomorrow, I'm planning on a bit more wandering and then my flight back to Dallas.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I got very touching cards from my grandma and aunt, and three calls singing me happy birthday from my nieces and nephews and parents. I feel very blessed and loved.

Sore muscles and itchy bug bites

So, in addition to Colin's birthday party, Jenn scheduled some triathlon training for Sunday. We did a 5K with the Pflugerville Pfun Run, and Jenn and Anthony left me in the dust! I was actually very frustrated with the organizers because the start clock went from 7 minutes to zero when they noticed everyone was ready to go. I was planning on taking my asthma medicine at 5 minutes before the start. I took it as they blew the horn and had a pretty good asthma attack within the first mile. I was so angry with my body. My legs felt like they could have kept going, but my chest was screaming with pain and I just couldn't get enough oxygen. I walked most of the 3.1 miles and finished in 42 minutes. (Jenn finished in an incredible 30 minutes.)

Then, we met up with a couple of girls from Jenn's vet clinic and went out to Pflugerville Lake. Jenn had determined that across and back was about 1/2 mile, the distance we will swim in the triathlon in June. The water was cold, which makes you gasp for breath, and then putting your head in the opaque, green water, you realize you can't see even 12 inches in front of your face. This freaks me out a bit, so I spent most of the way across with my head up, doing the breaststroke. At least we didn't have multitudes of other women to compete for space. Halfway across, I didn't know how I was going to make it. Once we got to the other side, we rested for a few minutes and readied our minds to head back. Anthony decided to walk around. The rest of us had had more recent swim practice, and he felt safer walking than risking being out in the middle completely exhausted.

Although the way back was against the current, amazingly, we all agreed it was actually easier than the first half! I was able to get my face in the water more and really concentrate on my stroke, which I think moves me farther. I also battled my right leg cramping, but I made it to the other side.

Once we reunited with Anthony and were discussing how the triathlon has people in canoes with those foam noodles for support, Anthony made the comment, "See, if I only had a noodle, I could have made it." We girls all cracked up, and someone repeated, "...if only Anthony had a noodle!"

In addition to the tired, sore muscles, there must have been chiggers in the field by the lake. I have 7 bites, and they are so damn annoying! I've tried Caladryl and hydrocortizone cream, but nothing is really taking away the itch.

Colin's 4th Birthday Celebration

Anthony made another of his incredible cakes. Not only is it a work of art, it was delicious, too!

The party was held at the neighborhood park, which is so nice because the kids can play on the playscape and it's not a big deal if anyone spills or drops something.


Jenn came up with a great, simple, train-inspired game for the kids to play. Each one had to fill up a small bucket with pea gravel from the playscape, then run back and put it into the big bucket. We imagined that the gravel was coal needed for the train. There was no competition, but the kids cheered each other on to "hurry, hurry!"


I'm always impressed that Jenn provides such healthy food for the kids to snack on. There was popcorn, veggies like carrots and broccoli, sandwiches and grapes. Plus, cake and ice cream of course!

A good time was had by all, especially the birthday boy.

Which character are you most like?

I love the show "Grey's Anatomy." I recently visited ABC's website to read more about the actors and found this quiz. Most of the description actually fits me pretty well!

Grey's Diagnosis:
You're Meredith

You don't always make the right choices, but you get points for trying, bouncing right back, and starting over. For being so "dark and twisty," you have a surprisingly sunny outlook on life. You're quick to jump into new relationships but just as quick to jump out. After the example your parents set, learning to trust someone else takes just about everything you've got.

Balloons

I work in a very casual, creative office. One of my best buds here at work and my next-office-door neighbor Justin went on vacation for TWO WEEKS. I missed him terribly and encouraged our whole team to help me decorate his office for his homecoming.

Last Friday, we blew up 500 balloons and packed them into his office. They were waist high. A few popped as we were packing them in, and we learned not to blow them up too much. I made everyone blow up at least a couple to help share the load. Four of us finished the last 100 or so and were very light-headed!

Justin was thrilled when he came in on Monday. He laughed and said it looked like a party and that he was going to keep it this way always.

Two days later, though, he was annoyed by the persistent rubber smell and the multiple colors assaulted his minimalist approach to decorating. I helped him deflate them. Sure was much easier to deflate than inflate!

Visiting with Bess

I visited my great aunt Bess in the nursing home again today. She looks a bit better -- the bruises from her fall are fading -- and she was definitely more talkative, but her mind seemed more addled.

We did talk a little about death, and as my dad commented on my last post about Bess, she told me that when she has thought it was close, she's not ready. She said it's because it (death) is so mysterious.

I told her I think it's welcoming, calm, like a homecoming and reminded her of her family and close loved ones who will be there welcoming her. She said, "but I'm so much older now, they may not recognize me." I laughed and said it's her soul they will recognize.

I got her to laugh a couple times. I stayed for over an hour, and one time I asked her if she was getting tired. She replied she's always tired (a symptom of the congestive heart failure), and since I was sitting at the foot of her bed, I told her to just kick me out when she was tired of me. She chuckled and said she wouldn't kick me like a mule...and did I know a mule was the combination of a horse and a donkey?

That's how the conversation went, from one topic to the next without much purpose. I loved hearing her stories of her parents, my great-grandparents, and how she met her husband -- on a ship travelling back from the States to South America. I finally said I had to go -- I was meeting a friend for dinner. A man? she asked with hope in her voice. No, I laughed. Just a girlfriend.

I'm a "Lac-tard"

I recently found out I'm lactose-intolerant. My goddaugher Annie knows several people in her close circle who are lactose-intolerant and has coined the name "Lac-tard."

Lactose intolerance develops when the body has difficulty digesting whole and skim milk and other dairy products. Lactose is a milk sugar and like most sugars, it is broken down by enzymes in the intestinal tract so it can be absorbed as an energy source. The enzyme that breaks down lactose is called lactase. When the intestine does not contain lactase, then lactose intolerance can occur. It is a troublesome and annoying problem, but it is never a serious one. Symptoms include nausea, abdominal cramps and rumbling, bloating, gas, and diarrhea.

I've learned that it's fairly common. Most infants and small children have lactase to be able to digest their mother's milk, but as we get older, we lose the ability to produce lactase.

So, I'm now a lactaid-carrying member of this group. I've never been fond of milk or yogurt, but I LOVE cheese. Fortunately, swallowing a couple of Lactaid with the meal seems to work. It's great not being bloated all the time!

My interview from Steph

My sister Steph sent me these questions; the answers are originally mine. :-)

1. When it's all said and done, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope to be remembered as a loving and caring person who touched the lives of those who knew her.

2. What are five things you hope to do before you die?

a. Have a child -- ideally birth one myself, but if not, adopt or foster care.
b. Travel for vacation more, especially to Italy, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Africa.
c. Find someone who can truly be a partner for the rest of my life.
d. Learn how to fly a plane.
e. Be a grandparent.

3. Enough with the life and death stuff -- when you really want to cut loose, what do you do?

Sing or dance. I love singing in front of a live audience, but since that's not always readily available, I love turning up the radio or iPod and singing at the top of my lungs to myself or my cat Sabrina. I also love to go out dancing. I love the energy.

4. If money were no object, where would you live?
Not sure, since I haven't visited everywhere I want yet, but it would have to be somewhere near the ocean. I just love the water and feel more at peace when I am there.

5. If you could invite 4 close friends/family and 4 others (celebrities, dead or alive geniuses, etc) to dinner, who would you invite and why?
This is tough because I don't want any of my friends or family who read this to not feel included, so I will focus on the "others."
I would invite:
Oprah because she is spiritual, incredibly successful and seems to love a good time
Ellen Degeneres because she makes me laugh
Josh Duhamel and George Clooney because they are hot and it would be fun to watch them!

A Brief Visit

My grandmother likes to be the news-teller. And she's pretty good at spreading the word when things are happening, good or bad.

I heard from my mom that my grandmother's eldest sister Bess had fallen and was admitted into the hospital. She's had to move from her assisted living apartment into full-time nursing care. Since she lives in Dallas, I decided to go visit.

I called my grandmother for the info, and she warned me that Bess is feisty and stubborn and has said she doesn't want visitors. Grandma suggested I call first. Nah...

I went over after work, found the room with her name outside and looked at both of the elderly women in the room, calling "Bess?" As I turned to double-check I had the correct room, the first woman said, "I'm Bess." I hadn't even recognized her. Since I last saw her -- a few months ago? -- she seems to have aged 20 years. Granted, she is almost 96, but she has never looked so gaunt, thin and just wasted away. She is confined to her bed now and has a greenish-purple bruise over her left eye where she fell.

I tried to recover quickly and reminded her who I am, but no need -- her mind is still sharp. She said, "But I told everyone that I don't want visitors..." and I replied, "Well, I thought about calling, but you would have told me not to come." She agreed. And I said, "So I didn't call!" She laughed and told me she was glad I came.

We had a nice albeit brief visit. I rubbed her swollen legs and we talked about her oxygen machine (too noisy for her). She said the food's not that good, but she's not very hungry anyway. She told me to tell everyone hello and not to come visit, but when I asked if I could come visit again, she said yes.

It just breaks my heart to see her or any of the numerous elderly people there. What kind of quality of life is that? None. I don't want that, nor would they, I suppose.

If you could be someone else for a day or a lifetime...

...who would you be?

This was how we opened up a recent client meeting to "break the ice." Some people said a superhero, others said a writer or a sports hero.

If I had it to do over again, I'd be a doctor.

At the time (early twenties), I didn't think I had what it takes. The many hours of studying (which I witnessed firsthand in my sister, Vetmommy), the long hours of rounds...but now I know, if you are determined and put your mind to it, you can do almost anything.

So, readers and lurkers, who (or what) would you be?