Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Flapjacks?

Today I took off work to get a repeat mammogram. I had gone for my yearly mammo about two weeks ago. Last Thursday, just as I was going into a meeting at school, I got a call on my cell from the imaging center. A suspicious, dense area is what they said. I needed to come to a different location and have the mammo repeated. Well, suddenly I felt a little warm, and I don't remember much from the meeting. I came home exhausted. But I knew I needed to not dwell on it. So I went off with Bob to our Y class determined to not let worry ruin my evening. I got to talking with a friend of mine there. She noticed I wasn't my usual happy self (as happy as you can be while you're lifting weights) and asked me how my day was. I eventually told her about my mammo results. She quickly reassured me, saying that she always has to have a repeat mammo. Every time. And it turns out just fine. So I went home a bit more encouraged. The weekend came and there was more than enough things to think about to keep the focus off myself. So when I went this morning, I felt like it was just a routine visit. I did ask Bob to come with me, as I wasn't sure I would take bad news very well. If there was any bad news. And there wasn't! The repeat mammo showed it to be normal. The suspicious area was no where to be seen. The radiologist assured me that everything looked great. So I walked into the waiting area all smiles and ready to go on with the day. Praising God, yes, praising God. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above. With wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God! That's all I have to say.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Just thinking...

Okay, it's been awhile since I've blogged. Had blogger's block. And my days have been so busy, I just want to come home and chill out. I have all these good intentions to do productive things in the evenings, but I've been so tired that I just end up wanting to just sit and watch an episode of Arrested Development and fall asleep. Yea, it's been so exciting...

I've started again with physical therapy for my back. (I think it's just arthritis setting in the joint. Getting old is so much fun.) I went back to the same place I've been before. Only now there's a different PT there and a new machine. An electrical stimulation machine that feels like "your skin is ripping off." Yes, that's how the PT said it should feel like, and...he was right! I told him it's been 20 years since I felt pain like this. But it's supposed to help with the healing process. We'll see. I think I'd feel alot better just taking anti-inflammatory drugs. A nice side effect of this machine is that it builds muscle. But where he was putting the pads is not where I needed to add any muscle! I didn't need anymore inches in that area. Apparently athletes hook themselves up to this machine, take the pain, and then can benchpress at higher rates. Hmmm...not sure about this.

Yea, I went from PT to dance class one evening. I think I undid all the PT that night. But dancing was so much more fun than the machine!

Saw a car commercial on TV last night that was disturbing to both Bob and I. It showed what looked like a happy family on a trip in the car. It ends with the car stopping at a house and letting the dad out. He hugs his kids and says "Thanks for letting me be with you this weekend." Then the mom pulled away with the kids. How sad. Now we have commercials about split families. Is this the norm now? Why does the car company feel they have to target divorced families? Wow.

Well, now it's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Bob and I are joining a new couples bible study with our friends. It's about Love and Respect. I'm thinking we're going to have some fun with this. The people involved have a sense of humor. They're our age (or not very far behind) and we've known most of them for a long time. But we will try to take it seriously...

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

What a way to start the week

Yesterday already had its own set of anxieties. The events of 9/11/01 will forever be remembered. So it was a little heart-stopping when during our morning announcements at school, the attendance clerk interrupts over the intercom and says we were now in a "lockdown." That means someone is on the campus causing a disturbance and we needed to lock our doors. The TV screen darkened. The children involved in the morning announcements were taken to a safe place. The next announcement was that all people in the portables needed to come into the building. Well, there's six portables and I am in one of them. So I call the office and find out that I needed to be inside the building ALL day. So I pack up what I can in my computer bag and go into the building. I asked in the office about a room and since there would be no computer classes all day, I set up my things in the computer lab. I had to have a master key to unlock and lock the door all day. Teachers could not let any children walk the halls unattended. Bathroom breaks meant everyone went at the same time. No outside recess was allowed. Rooms had to be locked all day.

So are you wondering why all of this? Why the lockdown? It seems that a parent came to school VERY irate. She came in and cursed out everyone in her path. She threatened all those in charge...and some. She even tangled with our only male teacher on the campus...and he's big. The police were called. They came and cuffed her. They took her away to jail. It was all very sad, especially for the child.

So I came to school this morning, wondering how the day would go. Hoping it would only get better. Just before lunch, while I had students in my portable, I get a call from the office. "Sue, lock your door. The women's been let out of jail." Okay, how do I do this without making the students feel scared? Then there's an announcement over the intercom. saying there will be no classes in the portables until further notice. Alright, now what? I call the office, and they tell me to stay locked in the portable with my students. "What about lunch?" I ask. (Lunch is very important to all.) "Call the office when you need to come into the building for lunch." Okay, so now we turn our attention back to school work. Yeah, right. Well, when we did come into the building, I find out that the parent did come back to school but was met by police at the front door. The police had been on our campus all morning. I guess they knew she'd come back. She just wanted to take her child out of school. What a shame. Another sad incident where a child suffers because of the parent's behavior.

And this didn't happen in some low socioeconomic, depressed area of Dallas County. This happened right here in an affluent area of Denton County. People with problems and not able to cope. Needy people. They're everywhere. All socioeconomic status, all races, all ages.

Oh, how we need the Lord.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Breastfeeding and bunco

Last night I played Bunco with my friends. For those of you not acquainted with Bunco (Bunko?), let me just say that it is a mindless game with dice. There's no strategy involved, so that you can spend the evening chatting away. There is some gambling involved though. Our group of 12 pays $5 each to play. There are monetary rewards for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place, plus a $2 prize for the "boobie." This Bunco group started about 16 years ago in my neighborhood. There are a few of the "original" players. Many have moved on out of town, or state, and we've just added others over the years. We've watched each other's children grow up, attended some of those children's weddings and now some of us are becoming grandmothers. We're a fun group, I must say. We may not see each other on a daily basis, but we look forward to our monthly Bunco date to catch up on what's happening in each other's lives.

So last night, at Bunco, I found out that there are such women in this world as "lactation consultants." Somehow the conversation got around to breastfeeding. Not that any of us in the group were doing that. It would be nearly impossible for most of us! But one of us who is a brand new grandmother was discussing how her son and daughter-in-law had researched this subject...alot. Another gal in the group told us about these lactation experts and how new parents these days have one. For just a moment...a short moment...I felt deprived. I didn't have a lactation consultant 25 years ago. Poor Steve. My first. What did I know? I didn't time him. Just waited till he was full. My thought with my children? Just don't bite me. You may eat, but you can't bite. Those were my rules. And they thrived and I survived. I guess I did okay without a lactation consultant.

Wow, the things I learn at Bunco.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Rainy days and Mondays

Yes, it's a rainy day here in North Texas. All day. Very unusual these days. A welcome change...well, sort of. Today is Labor Day, a Monday, and a day off from work. And Becca just left for a 5-hour or more drive back to school. It will probably take her longer than usual because of the rain and the fact that it's a holiday. Just before she left, I took her to Wal-Mart for the usual "buy stuff for the apartment, I'm really short on money" shopping trip. I stocked her up on a few items she regularly needs and uses at school. We found some great buys on the clearance aisles, such as cute bowls and cups for 25 cents each. Plates for $1. This is why I like Wal-Mart. While we were gone at the store, Bob changed the oil in her car, and any other fluids he could, rotated her wheels, and looked at her brakes (decided the next trip home they needed work). Anyway, Becca and I came home, ate lunch, packed her car, and off she went. The house is back to being quiet again. (Remember, Molly doesn't talk to us.) Bob's up in the attic working on the fan that was busted by some critter (squirrel, perhaps?). I should be doing something, but instead decided to vent on my blog.

I miss my kids. We had a very nice time with Pam and John in Austin. Bob and I had planned on leaving Flower Mound after our Saturday morning date at Einsteins. Becca emailed on Thursday asking if she could come down with us. Normally, she would have been able to leave Fayetteville on Friday, but she was pledging a Christian sorority, Phi Lamb, on Friday evening. So she said she'd drive down early Saturday morning so we could leave around the desired time. Well, she left VERY early, around 3:30 am and got in at 8:30 in time to go to Einsteins with us. Coffee and some Red Bull had her here much earlier that we expected. But she slept most of the way down to Austin. We made great time (no Red Bull for Bob) because the traffic was light most of the way. It only took us three hours to Austin. After meeting Pam and John at their very cute apartment, we made a shopping trip (it actually turned into a 2-day spree) to the San Marcos Outlet Mall. We celebrated Pam's birthday with dinner at a great Indian restaurant called The Clay Pit. It was John's first experience with Indian food. (He liked it.)
We spent time together again the next day, lunching at Central Market. I just love Austin. Great shops. A city with a downtown you can be proud of. Just plain fun. But then again, there's the traffic. But hills and trees. And people running and biking. We saw Lance Armstrong wannabes all over the place. We spent alot of time in the car, but we laughed, we joked, we talked. We saw fake Longhorns that we pretended were real. We left around 7:00 pm and I missed Pam and John already.

Our children are adults, real grown-ups, and have become our friends. We enjoy each other's company. We watch and laugh at some of the same shows, only because they have introduced us to such hilariously, politically incorrect, horrendously offensive shows like The Office and Arrested Development. We play games together and some of us get competitive. We learn from them. (Pam, I found the dry cleaning sheets at Wal-Mart!) So when they are not around, I feel a void. But I look forward to when we can visit again. Life goes on...so I guess I'd better do something constructive this afternoon, since Bob is STILL up in the attic.

Adios.