Blogger is a royal pain in the A

And, no Barb - I'm not talking about the letter A on my keyboard, either.

I am signed into blogger. I stay signed in. I am finding leaving comments more and more difficult. If someone has "Name/URL" in the list of options, I can leave a comment using my name and my blog URL. If that option is not listed there, it's impossible to leave a comment. I don't have an OpenID account, I don't have an AIM account, and I don't have a WordPress account. And, most of the time Anonymous is not an option.

Royal pain, I tell ya! I was trying to get caught up on my blog reading/commenting today but it seems that blogger had other ideas.

Bat rastards...

Have a great day! If you're cooking out - yum... enjoy. I'm going to attempt cooking out on our electric grill. The last time I tried it, it reset the GFI and I couldn't use the outside outlets. We tried to get it fixed, but the electrician said it's just the age of these buildings and they can't do anything about it. Great... NOT. So, I'll try running an extension cord into the house and plugging it into an outlet inside the house. I'm afraid that it won't work, either. If not, the thing will have to go back to the store. Good thing I still have the box. Just hope I can find the receipt.

Memorial Day

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day. As we celebrate the cultural beginning of summer, we need to keep in mind the true reason for this national holiday... The sacrifices of men and women who have gone before us and who made the ultimate sacrifices for our freedom. I thank all of those who have served, and who are now serving. I thank their families for their great sacrifices as well. Without the support of their families, many of these young soldiers would not have been able to make it.

From my family to yours...Thank you to all and may God richly bless you for all you have given.

Blogosphere has lost an amazing person

I've wondered about, and prayed for, a blogger friend, Kathy at Four Dog Day many times over the past few months. Her last post was seven months ago when her new grandson was four months old. I have been very concerned about her and was worried that something had happened to her grandson, which would have been devastating to her.

Fortunately, her grandson is OK, but his dear, sweet grandma has passed away. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in October and had many surgeries over the next few months. Her family posted one last post yesterday.

I will miss her.

49, no 48, no 49, no 48

Trying to figure this out... When I look on my Dashboard, it shows 49 followers - which is awesome and I welcome my new friends. Thank you for stopping by and sticking around. I hope that what you read is interesting enough to bring you back.

Back to the topic... the Dashboard shows 49, but the blog shows 48. When I click the "followers" link on my Dashboard, it shows 49 until I scroll through all of the followers and the number changes from 49 back to 48. I'm thinking that means that I have one person out there who is following anonymously. Does that make sense? They're in the overall count, but because I can't see who it is, it drops the count off when I'm looking at the followers.

Now, are you as confused as I am or could you follow this convoluted train of thought???

No matter... Just curious.

So, if you're out there anonymously - howdy and won't you come out of hiding so I can say 'hello' properly...

Very Honored!

I have the best bloggy friends in the world. Truly, I do...

I have been very honored to receive this award from not ONE, but TWO different blogging friends. First, my good friend Bouncing Barb over at This and That (As I  Bounce Through Life) gave me the award on Thursday, and then on Friday, another good friend (Somnia) over at You Are Loved bestowed it on me. Needless to say, I was greatly touched by each of these fine ladies.

(If you haven't read either of their blogs then I suggest you make it a point to do so. You won't be sorry.)


Here are the rules:

1. Tell you who gave it to me. (check - see above)
2. Put up a link to their blog. (check- see above)
3. Pay it Forward to five more bloggers.  (working on that)

(#3 is the most difficult because a lot of us are in the same bloggy circle.)

Barb added a #4 which I really like, so I'm going to add it here, too.

4. Tell us about one blogger that really touched you in some way. This blogger doesn't have to be one of the five you gave it to. They just have had to write or do something extra special that you'll never forget.

My recipients:

1. Green Girl in Wisconsin - love her blog; she's a hoot
2. Jenny at Knees and Paws - she's got some really cute stuff she makes
3. Denalee at Silver Strands - she shaved her head to make a wig for her mother
4. The Middlest Sister - because I'm a middle sister, too
5. Donna at Discovering the Purpose of Your Life - I'm not sure she "does" awards, but her blog is well worth the read.

Technically, I should give you five more blogs, but that might be overkill because I don't want to send you back to blogs you just came from. But, I will throw in a couple more...

6. Colenic at A Smile A Day - she's always got a cheerful word for someone
7. Marla at Butts and Ashes - she's pretty busy right now but her blog is always a great read.


Now, on to the #4 requirement...

I could really (easily) say that several from the blogging community have written something that I will never forget. Everyone's favorite "Skippy Gal" over at I Make Soap has been someone who has called, emailed, and encouraged me for months; Donna at Discovering the Purpose of Your Life emailed me very early in the process of her following my blog with encouragement and the offer of her shoulder or her ear if I needed to vent; Barb at This and That, who seems to have experienced (nearly) every health problem with her (now deceased) husband that I have been through with Ron; Pat from A View from the Edge can always lift my spirits with her humor and her beautiful photography of this great country; and so many more.

If I didn't name you specifically, it isn't because you didn't cross my mind. You did. You've probably crossed my mind more than you even know. This world of blogging has opened so many doors for friendships from parts of the world that I have only dreamt about. Bubbles from England, Mynx (at Dribble) in Australia, Diane (Southhamsdarling) in England, Jo-Anne ( Jo-Anne's Ramblings) from NSW Australia (I'm seeing a trend here - England and Australia) - those are just a few of the many new friends I have made and I thank you all for allowing me into your world.

Bless you all for all you do.

May the bird of paradise fly up your nose...

Or, in our case... Through our open sliding glass door.

Yep... It seems that when Ron opened the slider to take Miss Maisey out to do her business, a little starling decided it would like to take up residence in our living room.

I have no idea if it's still there or not. (He did open the slider just enough for the bird to get back out - and to keep Maisey in but he's not sure if that has happened or not.) Ron had to call maintenance because he couldn't find it and he didn't want bird poop all over the house.

I don't either.

I don't handle poop very well. No matter what kind it is.

Epley Maneuver

I "got" to stay home today and burn one of my precious vacation days. I felt fine but had to spend the day in the recliner with my head at either straight up or reclined at no more than 45 degree angle. I have a stiff neck now. I have to sleep in the recliner at 45 degree angle tonight. I will have a stiffer neck in the morning.

I am not looking forward to it.

I had an "epley maneuver" this morning at the ear doctor's office and the requirements (for this to be successful) is to pretend you have a book on the top of your head and not extend it or look down. It has been a very difficult day.

I blew my nose - standing straight up - and got dizzy. That is not a good sign. Maybe tomorrow will be dizzy-free.

I had to come home because the audiologist said it would be best if I didn't have to type for the next 8-10 hours.

It was soooo difficult to not go unpack boxes!!! I want to finish so I can get these boxes out of this place and can use the 2nd bedroom. I'm making it into my office and scrapbook room - and have dubbed it the "play room."

I am making a desk out of cubes. Once I have the cubes put together, I'll get a plywood top for it and have a great working space for my computer, printer, and card making stuff. Woo-hoo!

I'll post pictures as soon as I can get the place organized.

:::Gross Warning:::

Continue reading ONLY if you can deal with grossness of the human kind. I'm serious... I'm talking about poo. Human...

I don't know how many of you have cleaned up after toddlers who (after discovering a "full load" in their diapers/training pants) have "decorated" their environment with less-than wonderful things. I'd say it's pretty common for a toddler to do this at least once during the potty training cycle (I have cleaned up more than my share of it, too - from my siblings on down to my grandchildren).

It's even quite common for elderly patients in the throes of dementia to do this a time or two. I had a patient once (in an earlier lifetime I was a physical therapy assistant) who decorated her hospital room TWICE during her stay there*.

Imagine if you will, a busy office with lots of women going in and out of the ladies room.

:::This is where the TRUE grossness comes into play:::

I rarely go in there and find it unoccupied, or at least pass someone either coming or going as I'm entering or exiting. I found it really surprising (and disgusting) that someone had been in there long enough to totally "decorate" one stall, including the floor, outside of the toilet, toilet seat, door (the cleaning lady told me this part), and the little "trash" can - without someone walking in on her either in the act or as she was exiting.

Why in the world would someone do this - and how in the world did it happen with no one else catching her? The cleaning lady (who is just the sweetest thing) told me that it looked deliberate with all the places the "decoration" was placed. If it was an accident, how did this gal get out of the bathroom and back to her desk in the condition I'm guessing her clothes were in.

Totally disgusting. And, it was someone on my floor in my office.


*This was one reason I got out of the medical field. I don't handle stuff like that well. It causes uncontrollable and almost immediate gagging and vomiting on my part. Not good to vomit on your patients... Ron says I married him so I'd have someone to clean up after my kids.

I'm so tired...

I promise, I'll get back in the swing of things and start writing on the blog again. I've been reading others' posts but just too tired to do much in the way of posting.

Ron is still loving it here. He's able to do so much more in the kitchen that he's done dishes and he's going to put up the groceries that I carried in tonight. I did the perishables and he's going to take care of the rest.  We visited one of the Mennonite churches today (there are 4 of them in town; it's a big Mennonite community) and it was nice. Next week, Ron wants to visit the non-denominational church down the street. We'll see... They may be a big too charismatic for my tastes but I'm willing to check it out for him.

I took a nap in the recliner today. It was great. I snore. Woke myself up snoring. Damnation... I was doing good, too and then heard this snore and wondered where it was coming from. Hello, dummy... it was ME.

Tomorrow is back to work. Blech.

I'd rather stay home and sleep in.

Specialist Update

I have two different types of vertigo battling it out in my head (he called me the Vertigo Queen). The first one is from the Meniere’s disease and he doesn’t want to address that just yet (more on that later). The second is called BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) and is caused by head positions. I go back to the office next Thursday for them to use this machine that looks like an amusement ride (I don't think I'll be too amused) to try and correct the problem. Then, I’ll go see him in one month to have the BPPV re-evaluated.

The next order of business is to schedule an *MRI because he thinks that there is a strong possibility that I have a brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma (AN). Since I have a family history of this type of tumor and another (my sister had an AN and my mother and brother each had the other type – cholesteatoma), he wants to do an MRI of my head. I had an MRI in 2000 but the AN is a very slow growing tumor and it is possible that it caused the sudden hearing loss and vertigo (that was diagnosed as Meniere’s) and it just didn’t show up on the scan. MRI machines have improved over the years and something as small as a 5mm spot could have been impossible to see at that time. 5mm could cause the hearing loss and still be misdiagnosed. The combination of the BPPV and Meniere’s vertigo is what is affecting my balance right now. If I do indeed have an AN, then I’m not sure what he’ll want to do. I know my sister had the surgery in 1999 and it’s pretty major.

Next, he’s recommended what is called a BAHA hearing aid system and said I was a perfect candidate for it. It’s an internal screw (titanium) that they put into the bone behind the ear and then after three months (after it’s taken good hold in the bone) they put the external piece on. It gives you the feeling of hearing through bone conduction to the good ear and is different than a cochlear implant, which needs an intact hearing nerve (which I don’t have) to work. They put the display device on my head and I nearly cried because I could hear; the guy said my face just lit up. Then, I found out the cost involved and nearly cried for real. LOL! Insurance will pay for the surgery at 100% but only $600 on the device, which is about $3500 by itself. They wouldn’t do the BAHA until after they determine if I have an AN and if it needs surgery. They can’t implant the titanium screw into my head if they have to do the AN surgery until after that heals.

So, that’s the scoop and all I know at this point.

*I got a little irritated at the doctor. He is a specialist in his field (and a specialist in the area of ANs) but he had terrible patient/doctor skills. As I'm trying to talk to him, he got up and left the room. His reason? Because I said I have terrible anxiety attacks and need to do conscious sedation for the MRI. His theory is that 5 mg of Valium is enough and if I need anything more than that, I'm wasting his time. So I called my PCP and told them how he blew me off and if he thinks I need an MRI, I want one but I also need to be able to lie on the table to get one. I know (from previous experience) that they strap your head down and the machine is very, very close to your face. With claustrophobia and anxiety - which hits without warning - I'm afraid that I'd try to come off the table in the middle of the test. He may be an expert in HIS field, but he's not an expert in MY care.