sweeter than sugar

I saw this one coming a couple of years ago but remained in denial about the whole thing. Convinced that my superior body, determination to exercise and control my diet would overcome any and all attackers. Duh.
While out visiting garage sales last weekend we found a cool one at a newly opened church near home. Since we'd been wanting to check it out anyway this seemed the perfect opportunity. It's St. Basil the Great Antiochian Orthodox Church. A nice young man escorted me around the grounds and into the public portion of the church where he tried valiantly to answer my questions and palm me off on the church secretary who was giving the official tour. It didn't work, I liked getting his youthful interpretation of the church. He showed me to a table where they were doing free blood pressure and blood sugar checks.
Now I've known for years that I have high blood pressure. Anger really does corelate to BP and I was sure mad the first time I got it checked out. This particular test put me well into the safe range, almost a little too low actually. The finger poke gave a reading of 167 I think. I wasn't alarmed as I'd just come from a harvest festival where I'd eaten BBQ ribs, potato chips and diet coke. I figured it was in response to that.
Alice sat down and told me it had been almost 2 hours since we had eaten and she wanted her numbers too. Her BP was high although for her it was lower than it's been in a while. I don't remember those numbers cause the next ones shocked me. Her blood sugar was 255 which alarmed everyone. They gave us both FREE blood meter test things and told us to call our doctors. I needed to get my annual check up so called right away. Alice waited a few days thinking her's was a fluke too. Ultimately we both went to the lab and had the usual blood work up.
I learned how to do the test and Alice let's me poke her finger occasionally. We time it between meals and hers has remained over 200, even when she has slept all night with nothing to eat or drink. Mine returned to a safe 105.
Now here comes the freaky part. Today I get one of those automated phone calls from my insurance provider. Thinking it is a reminder I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. I listen to the voice instructing me to answer a few questions. It quickly became obvious this was not the usual reminder. All of the questions were about diabetes and when had I last had a dilated eye exam, and a note about the dawn phenonomen. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. The results of my blood work are in. Bummer.
A bit later the phone rings when I can't answer it. There is a frantic sounding message from Alice's doctors office to call them immediately. Not a reminder about her appointment tomorrow, just a call us as soon as possible type thing. Bummer.
I hate to be a pessimist but this isn't looking good for either of us. At least she didn't get notified by an automated voice lecture. I will go in tomorrow and hear the news I already know is coming. So will she, unless she gets home from those blasted river boats in time to call.
I am hugely grateful to the Family Practice and Associates that offered the free test and the free meters and supplies. Despite this being remarkedly bad news it could have been a lot worse had they not made it available to us. How do you write a thank you note to someone who just slam dunked your life? One last time. Bummer.

Florida is scary #10

Thanks to Amanda for making this one possible. Throwing Jellyfish. Only in florida
MADEIRA BEACH — A 41-year-old man who witnesses said had been drinking since 9 a.m. was arrested Monday afternoon after authorities say he created a disturbance by pretending to drown and throw jellyfish on teenagers.

Keith Edward Marriott, of 100 154th Ave. in Madeira Beach, faces charges of disorderly intoxication and carrying a concealed weapon after a pocketknife was found in his shorts, Pinellas County sheriff's deputies said. Marriott repeatedly submerged himself and floated to the surface, "causing concern for his safety," and was "loud and disruptive," according to a sheriff's report.

Then he started throwing sea creatures.

Marriott, who is listed on arrest reports as working for a brokerage company, was being held at Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $250 bail.

Florida is scary #9

Since so much of this post requires photo's I'm going to put the link in. As long as TSG keeps their files you can still see it.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723091naked1.html

Looks like Daddy dearest connected with that head a few times before he took off on his bike.

Kansas is Scary

Okay, I forgot about Fred Phelps. Florida is scary it's true but Kansas is called home by Fred Phelps who is...what....how do you label these people? Nuts doesn't really cover it. Evil, hatemongers, scary, subspecies. There doesn't seem to be a word for it. You better believe the Devil knows the bible inside and out and can use it to his advantage. I'm not saying Phelps and his crew are the devil. I'm just saying Gods loves the sinner, not the sin. Phelps hates everyone who isn't in his special church. He isn't Baptist by the way, they made that part up too. So, yes Florida is Scary, but Kansas has our homegrown loonies too.

I have grey hair

I was looking at my hair in the mirror tonight and realized I have grey hair. I've always thought of myself more in the "greying" category. I did not grey prettily like my cousin Kathleen. I got what would be called distinguished temples on a man. So I started coloring it years ago. I went from my own dark dark brown to blonde overnight. That was quite fun. I tried about a hundred shades of red. I streaked, I curled, I crimped and metallic'ed my hair. Honestly it usually ended up looking rather silly but at least it wasn't "greying".
So a couple of months ago I decided to let my hair grow out so I could see what color it is. Not an easy thing to do when you have to make your peace with brown roots and red tips. Eventually it grew enough I was able to cut the color off. I don't know what I think of it. I still have distinguished temples. They're white now instead of silver. The dark brown has enough white mixed in to qualify as grey. I don't like it and want to color it again. Something dramatic like Cruella DeVille. The problem is how much other people seem to like this hair on me. They pull at my curls that showed up with age. They ruffle the white parts and say how beautiful my hair is. Maybe I'm not seeing it right so I spent about 10 whole minutes staring at it in the mirror from all sides. Well, I think I can learn to live with it but it's going to be awfully hard to convince people I'm 29 with all this silver. I will have to start working the prematurely grey angle soon.

Florida is Scary #8

This one is to much for me to even write about. So I'll post the link here and you can read on your own. There are several articles in this section and some of them are gruesome. Florida is not where I'd want to go to raise a family.

http://www.justnews.com/news/19653921/detail.html

You might have to copy and paste that one. I don't think Blogspot links these things.

Playing for Change

I don't know if y'all have heard about this, but if you live in USA I'd be surprised if you have'nt. I've been listening to them for a while now and loving every minute of it. It's a group of non professional singers from all over the planet singing the same song. Somebody does a mix on it and the end result leaves you breathless. Bono did a song with them...not sure how I feel about that. I liked the idea that it was a group of unknowns, but it wasn't my decision to make. Anyway, I don't know if it's legal to post a link or not but here is http://www.playingforchange.com/ The first song I heard on here was "lean on me" not normally a fave of mine, but I'll never get tired of it again. I don't think it's possible for anyone to do "bring it on home to me" better than this. Schweeeeeet.

Enjoy

Nobody told me there'd be days like this

I am super thin skinned today. I find myself bursting into tears without notice or provocation. Well, maybe a little provocation. I am living in a man house and that's not always the easiest thing in the world. I've had to make a concentrated effort not to bite his head off and put him in his place. I hate being like this. When I get too angry I can get vicious. My Lady has a wicked tongue. I always regret it. Most of the time regret it before I even do it. Today has been all about practicing patience. I deserve a medal for not ripping his head right off his body. Tragically he hasn't done anything so awful to deserve this. He's just doing it consistently enough that it adds up. You can only pour so much water in the cup before it spills over. On the plus side, I've been able to help out a couple of friends lately. I mean really help them when they were the most in need. What a joyous feeling that is. Every time I'm given the chance to do something like this it reminds me of the wonderful people in my life who were there to help me when I needed it. What a marvelous thing to have and share. Maybe I'm trying to justify my behaviour towards MyJohn. If I'm nice to everyone else then it's okay to be grumpy at him. I need a nap. All this thinking today has left me rather grumpy too.

I am not the spelling police.

I just realized I made some mistakes in spelling recently. No big deal, everyone makes them. However, since I had just ranted about how spell checker is your best friend I must take note here. I do not write professionally. I am more of the James Joycian stream of consciousness type gal. Spelling is great, but I don't make a living at it so don't worry about my wordsmithing abilities. I still think someone in a public / professional should have enough sense to spell check public documents. The day is coming when you are going to read:

IRS wants 2 b ur friend. lol

Save me from myself when that day finally arrives.

He snores

MyJohn is asleep in his chair as usual. His face smushed in his hand that manages to stay propped up on the arm of the chair. He's amazing in the places he can sleep. If I speak to him he will jolt upright, smack his lips, move his head around trying to locate my voice and swear on a stack of bibles that he wasn't asleep. Should I tell him that he snores or keep it my secret? Decisions, decisions....I'm liking the idea of keeping it to myself. It could be good ammunition to use later on. Like when I'm talking to him about something and he starts snoring. I can wake him up by throwing my arms around him and thanking him for agreeing to take me to Mexico for a week. Let him deny he was sleeping then. Makes the mind swirl with possibilites.

Florida is Scary #7

I know this street, driven on it many times. Tough to think of it now without thinking about a 3 month baby dying there. Emergency responders to the scene are having trouble with it too. Apparently they tried to revive the child but weren't successful. The whole story is disgusting. The Mom is a 17 year old foster child herself who forgot to show up to court to get a restraining order against the boyfriend. Not that it would have done much good I suppose. Everyone is all pumped up about the nasty guy and the pitiful Mother. Somehow, the baby gets lost here. I suspect he always was. The following short excerpt is from the Tampa Tribune.

Investigators say the ex-boyfriend of Emanuel's mother, Richard Anthony McTear Jr., tossed the infant out a car window along Interstate 275 near Fowler Avenue early Tuesday.


The mental image of that one will stay with me for a very long time.

Florida is Scary #6

The dog got more words than the wife. Joe, Billy, Jim Bob is still living and working in Florida. Oh yeah, the guy who shot her, poor fellow, lost his job as a radio dj the same day he went to jail. Boo Hoo.


Edward Shannon Burke, 43, was arrested on charges related to shooting his wife and her dog after deputies were called to his Altamonte Springs-area home late Thursday.

A 40-caliber bullet passed through the leg of Charlotte, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, and grazed the right side of Catherine Burke's head, authorities said.

His wife, who was on the bed at the time, was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center and released

Florida is Scary #5

Okay, so I just cut and pasted this one instead of giving out the shorter version in my own words. But the grammatical errors in this one are funny so I attached the whole thing. Now mind you, I'm not the grammer & spelling police, but if you are in a professional position where words are your paycheck you'd think someone would look closer at this. I suck at grammer, but I'm pretty good at spelling and I'm no where near a professional. Let's just say I have a professional interest in all the English garbage out there. Okay, Florida is scary part 5.

TAMPA - A man charged Wednesday with killing his girlfriend's 11-month-old son was charged Thursday with sexual battery on the child, Hillsborough County deputies announced.
Say here's good news, the put the creeps name and address in the paper.

Angel Robles, 25, of 7336 Central Park Circle in Tampa, already is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Isiah Ian McGuire. Deputies determined sexual battery occurred based on an autopsy and evidence at the scene, but it is unknown when the battery occurred, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

Meanwhile, Tampa police have reopened an investigation into a baby's death in January 2008 to determine whether Robles was involved. Robles was dating the baby's mother but was not the father of the baby girl, who was 3 1/2 months old, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

The mother of the girl was 15 at the time Tampa police started its investigation, Davis said.

Robles was not arrested or charged during that investigation and has not been named a suspect.

"It's kind of a coincidence that we have two women who dated him whose child died," Davis said. "So that made us question it and reopen our case."

Examiners determined Isiah died from multiple internal injuries and blunt force trauma to the head, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

Investigators gave this account of what happened Tuesday at the Central Park Circle home Robles shares with the baby's mother:

Isiah was with Robles from about 2:20 p.m. to the time Robles called 911 at 8:11 p.m. Robles told a dispatcher the baby appeared unconscious. Isiah was taken to University Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Robles was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and taken to Orient Road Jail, where he is being held without bail.

Florida is Scary #4

A 13 year old Autistic boy took his Fathers SUV to an airport where he boarded a flight for Chicago. He was so successful at getting there that he bought another ticket to San Jose California. From news reports the boy is fascinated by aviation. From reports of employee's, he pestered them with constant questions about how stuff works. The boy didn't do anything illegal, aside from boosting Dad's ego machine, he didn't have to show ID as he was under 18, he bought his ticket, checked his luggage and took off. It's a bit of an embarrassment that he managed to get so far. When asked where he was going he is quoted as saying I wanted to go see my Mom.
Warning to Floridians. Autistic 13 year old's are fleeing the state as quickly as possible.

IRS can't spell either

While gritting my teeth and reading over an irs letter outlining why they are owed $345 from a couple years ago I came across this line.
4. Complete and return the installment Agreement Repuest (enclosed envelope --page 3.

This one is from CP2000 (Rev. 11/2004)

Meaning that it's a form letter sent out to anyone they think owes them taxes. Spell checker folks, it's your best friend. Especially if you are in a professional field. Especially if millions of people are likely to read it. No wonder so many people think the irs is full of idiots.

Florida is Scary #3

21 polo horses died from a goof up at a pharmacy. Apparently it wasn't an easy death, go to sleep and wake up in Horse Heaven type deal. These beautiful animals owned by the Venezuelan-owned Lechuza polo team began to collaspe shortly before the U.S. Open match. Must have been quite a shock to everyone including a crowd of reportedly "well-heeled" spectators. A polite way of saying the rich and famous. Although honestly who would be at a polo match if they weren't well heeled. The rest of us work regular jobs. I'm waiting for Hugo Chavez to call this an evil plot from the great white devil to dominate the polo field. What a shame the horses died. I've lived around horses my whole life and find them to be rather intelligent beings capable of love and disdain. This isn't a crime story....yet. But it fits the category of Scary stuff from Florida.

Florida Story #2

Some kid in Sarasota Florida was walking down main street carrying a confederate flag. Another kid took exception to the flag and shot him in the chest with a 22 pistol. Now that's not especially wierd for florida, but if it happened in Kansas City people would be hysterical. In Florida it only got an honorable mention in the role call of strangeness.

Beyonce' and me

Holy Smokes, I'm into pop culture. Not only do I know sort of who Beyonce is, I have heard her sing 2 songs and liked them both. The cover for "At Last" that Ella James claims to own but was in fact a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford. It was first performed in the film and on record by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, vocal by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday. The song was a major hit for Miller, reaching number 14 on the Billboard pop charts in 1942, and it soon became a standard. Nat King Cole recorded it in 1957 on his number one album Love Is the Thing. In 1960, it was covered by blues singer Etta James in a performance that improvised on Warren's melody. James was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for her rendition of the song.
But I digress. There is a video making the internet rounds of 100 single women singing and dancing in Picadilly circle in London. The song is by beyonce. Something about if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it. I'm a single lady might be the title. I loved it. One of those catchy tunes you can't get out of your head. Good grief, I'm an aging hippie. I thought all music stopped around 1975 or so. What an eye opener this was.

Florida is Scary #1

Has anyone other than me noticed how dangerous Florida is to little white girls? Jessica Lundsford, Caylee Anthony, Haleigh Cummings and Sandra Cantu being perfect examples of this crazy state. Not sure on the spellings so I won't continue to list them but I'm sure you can easily name a few more. I wonder if little black girls are also being kidnapped, raped, murdered? I do know of a little black boy who is missing named Adji Desir but you don't hear much about them which is kind of scary all by itself. I put little Adji's picture up here in case anyone has seen him. He's only 6...just a baby really. Too young to be gone so long from home.
It's not just the missing little girls, it's wierd stuff. The news reports are full of them. I have a dear friend that works in law enforcement in Florida and I'm happy to call her and make fun of each new and wierd report. I think I'll start keeping a log of events to bolster my point here. Florida is scary.
My boyfriend/fiancee/constant source of irritation wants to retire there. Is he nuts? The only people who truly like Florida are the millionaires who live along the beaches. They are rather insulated from the regular folks. The Relocated New Yorkers like to say they are happy there, but I'm not convinced. I think their Grandkids like having a cool place to go visit Granny. Billy Jim Joe Bob lives further inland. They really do have wierd swamp refugees that only see the light of day when they run out of cigarettes and have to come to shore. Okay Okay I'm a rotten person for making fun of our local oddities, but come on. I saw Billy Jim Joe Bob get bit by a snake at a tourist attraction only to hear him say, as he sucked his wrist) it was okay cause the snake had round eyes, not slits. He discovered this by holding the snake up by it's tale to peer into it's eyes. See what I mean? Definately a scary place.
That's a good idea. I'm going to collect Florida stories along with my collection of misspellings in professional letters. Got a good one last night from USAA in which they misspelled the word professional. That was a total hoot. Prfessional. Don't those multi million dollar corporations use spell checker?
Enough, I'm rambling