I am feeling much better. I’ve only had 2 waves of pain this morning, which is a major improvement over the last couple of days. And, I slept all night — in bed. I didn’t have to get up and sleep upright. So, I definitely think I’m getting better. I am fairly confident that its the antibiotics that is doing the trick. It could be all the Tylenol I’m taking, but I haven’t taken any this morning. I know I shouldn’t go around self-diagnoising myself, but if this did the trick, then I’m glad I did. I will break down and go to the dentist one of these days. But, this just isn’t the day!

I waited on Ethan to get home from a Journalism Workshop, and then we headed for Topeka for a weigh-in appointment. It wasn’t pretty. I have thoughts and things I want/need to get down. If you are wanting to follow along with my weight loss journey, that can be found at Weighing-Me-Down. I know I could record my thoughts and feelings here; but there are a variety of reasons I want to keep the two seperate. If nothing else, I want to work towards monetizing the weight loss blog. So, making it a “niche” blog — a blog focusing on something specific, such as health and weight loss, will further the cause there

So, I want to interact with others that are trying to loss weight. And, its just easier for those interested in just that part to be able to go to a specific place, instead of wading through alot of different posts here.

Ultimately, I just need to stay focused. And that means eating, sleeping, thinking about weight loss and this program, and goals I want to set, and things I want to accomplish. Its just better for it to have its own “home”. And that would be there.

This has not been a good day. Actually, it wasn’t a good night. I woke up in the middle of the night with a couple of teeth burning. Major toothache. I tried turning, from side to side, to get some relief, but it didn’t work. So, I got up and went to the bathroom. Sitting up made it feel better. The pain just came in waves. But not constant like it had been. I tried going back to bed, and the same thing. So, I got up and sleep in the recliner the rest of the night. Took some of David’s ibuprofen. Helped some, but not much. I’ve nursed it all day. Its better now — but part of that might be having David pick up some Tylenol. I’m hoping it goes away on its own. I don’t relish the thought of going to the dentist.

Appetizer
What is your favorite type of art? Impressionistic I don’t know why, but I am drawn to pictures by Monet and Renoir.

Soup
When was the last time you got a free lunch (or breakfast or dinner)? Who paid for it? well, every time I go out with my husband, he pays; but going beyond that, it would have been eating with our boss. He seems to be able to sneak the bill before we have a chance to get it. But, then. He’s just like that.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how emotional are you? probably a 5. I can and do get upset easily, but not overly so. There are times I wish I could be more emotional. And other times, I hate wearing my heart on my sleeve, and wishing I could get my emotions under control.

Main Course
Approximately how long do you spend each day responding to emails? just a few minutes. Don’t ask me about blogs and blog comments, though.

Dessert
To what temperature do you usually set your home’s thermostat? 74 in the summer and 68-70 (I think) in the winter. We have a programable theromstat, so it varies during the day, depending if we are home at note. When we aren’t home, its set to be on 60. But then it resets itself to 68 at 5:00 when we get home. And then there are times when I override it because I’m either too hot or too cold.

Encourage others and yourself! Share a scripture, quote, devotional, lyrics, or anything that has blessed you and strengthened you in your faith. Don’t forget to grab the button and to link back to Sheryl’s post.

I read the following at Lazy Daisy’s blog, and it just hit the nail on the head for today.
Stress Management
A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience,raised a glass of water and asked “How heavy is this glass of water?”Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem.If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,a s the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on. ”

“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.”

“So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.”

So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don’t pick it up again until after you’ve rested a while.

Lord, teach me to put my burden down and rest.

I need to get David’s prescriptions written down in my book. His doctor just added another one to the lot. That makes 5, plus ibuprofen 3 times a day. But until he gets this joint/arm pain straightened out, he had probably do what his doctor tells him to do. As with my aunt, there came a time I needed to take her to the ER, and when asked what meds she took, I couldn’t tell them. And that is an awful feeling, because it slows down the whole process while they are tracking down the information. Having that information in hand needs to happen, if at all possible. And there is no reason why I can’t have that information with me about David. He is taking way too many pills now that I can’t be indifferent to it, and just assume he’s going to live forever.

He’s taking meds for his blood sugar levels, his blood pressure, his cholosteral. As well as Potassium to offset one of the meds he takes. And now his doctor wants him to take 3 ibuprofen 3 times a day to help ease the pain he is feeling in his arms and joints. Something is wrong, but they don’t know what. And because we don’t have insurance, his doctor is trying to proceed cautiously and not rack up a bunch of tests that may or may not tell him what is wrong. So, we wait, and experiment. And hopefully, somewhere along the line, he gets better.

Its potato soup season.   Thats another thing I love about this time of year.  Our bodies haven’t adjusted to the coolest of the evenings yet.  And a bowl of piping hot potato soup just seems to hit the spot.  Thats what we are having for supper.  Ethan’s idea.  But I have to say, I agree with him.

It was a busy day at work this morning.  Not so much for me, other than answering the phone; but my boss was on the phone what seemed like most of the morning.  We really do need to get new phones.  We’ve requested them.  When we moved to the new building, we went from 2 lines to 1 line (but the trade off was High Speed internet with its own line).  So now we have calling waiting.  Which is nice for whoever is calling, but I’m sure it gets annoying when we put someone on hold to answering whoever else is calling.  The reason I get frustrated that we haven’t gotten new phones is for days like today.   Gordon was expecting several call backs, and while he was on the phone, he would get that little beep noise that would let him know someone was calling.  So, he’d put whoever it was he was talking to on hold, and answer the other call.  This probably happened a half dozen times this morning.  One of those calls was David.   Was. Not. A. Neccessary.  Call.   But, how did you know.   If we had LCD phones, we could look and see who was calling and make the decision to put someone on hold or not.  As it is now, its a guess in the dark to who it might be.

And I know we can’t go out and spend lots of money, esp now with the addition of a mortgage payment to the equation of what has to be paid every month.  But, there are still things that need to be bought for the new building, and those phones are one of them.  I don’t understand what the treasurer is dragging his feet.  Some of the other things he has bought don’t make any sense.  We have asked   …. and asked…     I’m to the point where I’m going to buy the phone myself.   Esp. after a morning like today!

My afternoon was quiet though.   David wasn’t there.  And everyone must have known it, because the phone rang very little.   I like afternoons like that.  Esp. on billing days!

Gordon has a full week. (Gordon is my morning boss.  He’s also our minister).  One of our ladies is having surgery in the morning, so he is going to go be with her.  He has a funeral service to do Friday, as well as a wedding rehearsal and a wedding.  He has a ministerial alliance meeting on Wednesday … and sometime, he probably should do a sermon.   This is not to say I don’t have a busy week ahead of me, but its just normal stuff.  From the sounds of it, his is borderline overwhelming.

Feast One Hundred and Sixty

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital? As a visitor, last year when my aunt was in the hospital. She was in a lot. As a patient — that would be January 2004. And I’ve been to our local hospital for lab work and such in the last couple of months.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you? Working 2 part time jobs, doing freelance blogging & being a wife, mom, and taking care of a home, that would suggest that I am very ambitious. And yes, I do get out of bed every day and try to be all of these things. But the sad fact is, I am tired all the time, and I have very little ambition. I have ideas in my head how I would like things to be; but implementing them is another story. So, on a scale of 1 to 10 … probably … a 3?

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.) (arm)Annie Really Moves

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it? Kansas Klickers — a club for photographers for blog, and live in Kansas.

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home? brown