Try to Remember...

(He's gonna sing again)

Try to remember the kind of September,
When life was slow and oh so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September,
When grass was green and grain was yellow.

Try to remember the kind of September,
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow ( follow ) follow ( follow ) follow . . .

Try to remember when life was so tender,
That no one wept except the willow,
Try to remember when life was so tender,
That dreams were kept beside your pillow. . . .

I just got through watching Mel Gibson & Danny Glover in the original "Lethal Weapon" movie. It takes place around the Christmas holidays and the music for the closing credits was "Jingle Bell Rock".

For those few who have known me since my "Karen's Kids" days (a children's song and dance group I worked with for 13 years), I remember EVERY step of the Choreography... Every kick-ball-change... every shimmy-shake... every Pas de bourrée! Do You ?

Just a fleeting memory that made me smile. Take Care, All - Douggie

Perhaps me speaketh in haste...

Well, it appears I may have spoken too soon about this Gastro/Hepatitis thing (See previous blog entry) The bullet I dodged may have ricocheted (Ping, ping ping). I called my Gastro Dr's office to verify my appointment for tomorrow, and they are closed and referring patients to the Health Department for testing... "You will be contacted with further information as appropriate".

As I said before, all of my procedures have been done at UMC Hospital because of my condition, so extra care would have been taken. I, also, just gave 15 vials of blood for my final "Transplant Qualification" to be sent to Washington, so I assume it would have been checked, again, just last month. I feel fairly confident I'm not at risk, but you never know.

P.S. If you can name this Hanna Barberra cartoon character, you are "Toon-Master" and I will send your your certificate when you tell me his name

Finally, I got a break...

For those following the news in Vegas, one of the companies that does medical procedures (endoscopies to be exact, in this case) has been shut down because of a Hepatitis/HIV scare. It seems that, when administering the anesthetic through the IV to sedate the patients, they were not changing the syringe in between patients, and using the "economy-size" bottles of anesthesia. The medication is injected through an IV in the back of your hand, so the possibilities of cross-contamination should be negligible, but this IS Vegas, where everything is a "Crap-Shoot".

Well, someone got caught holding the dice and is looking at a multi-million dollar class action law suit, and one company, with three facilities is responsible. I have already seen 4 Law firms advertising ON TV to represent patients in this suit, and the news only broke on Friday (Today's Monday).

Well Guess What . . . ? NOT MY DOCTOR ! My Gastro Dr. works from the same building, but does all of his procedures as a "Fee Based Procedure" at UMC Hospital, and NOT at his building ! None of his associate Doctor's are involved. FINALLY, Something has NOT gone wrong !

Now I'm frightened ! I never get to dodge the bullet. Is there a shotgun waiting around the corner waiting for me ? I Sure Hope and Pray NOT !

STOP ! ! ! . . . THIEF ! ! !

2 Weeks ago, on my way to an AA meeting, I met with Mom & Dad at a local casino for "Fish Night" (...Fish on Fridays...). As I rushed out to go to the meeting afterwards, I found my (unlocked) had been violated, with all of the seats pushed up and all of the spaces checked. The items that were missing: My nice, fleece jacket (with my cell phone in the pocket) and my book bag with all of my Easter and Church Music, and my Franklin/Covey Day Planner. THAT'S ALL ! My car stereo was still there, a computer printer was still there in the back. Assorted CD's in the visor... still there. $75.00 Sun glasses, and reading glasses... still there !

I guess the thing that makes me the most angry is the things they took were of no use to anyone but me, except the jacket. I reported the phone immediately, and it had not been used at all, and I could see someone wanting the jacket, but my Church Music ? My Day Planner ? (There's no "Identity" related info in the day planner)

Here's the part that has changed about me. Back in the day, I would have cursed (a lot), then drove over to the 7-11 and bought enough alcohol to get "hammered". Then I would have gone back into the casino and made a scene out of it. Then I would have bought more, stronger alcohol, drove around a little, then gone home and bitched till Mom was pissed at me, then lay down and went to sleep, drunk and pissed !

This time, I got pissed and drove to an AA meeting and calmed down, drove down to ask if anyone had turned in the book bag at the casino, drove around the grounds looking for it, then went home and relaxed, called to shut off my phone and then, quietly went to lay down and relax till I fell asleep.

I found that what I DID was a LOT better than what I WOULD have done. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks... Woof !

Life...? Don't talk to me about Life !

Actually, Life has been going O.K. as of late. I was just given my (1st) annual Substance Abuse program Summary Evaluation and I was given an overall attendance of 82% and 15% of the missing were excused, so I really only missed 2 meetings/appointments in a year. In the summary, I got almost all "Excellent" ratings, so this is where I stand, overall:

Psychological - Green Light

Psychiatric - Green Light

Physical - Green Light

Gastro - Green Light - On Hold waiting for VA approval

Veteran's Administration - On Hold waiting for approval

All Systems GO - waiting final approval.

Food, Glorious Food

Good News on the Diabetic Front. (He Over-reacted... AGAIN !) - Here's the word.

I am, as those in denial like to say, "Just Barely" Diabetic. (Those are my Doctor's words, not mine). Considering the fact that I didn't "know" I was being tested for that, it most certainly had something to do with what I had for dinner and desert the night before. We all have gotten used to a meal sized portion of food, looking at the packaging and NOT seeing what the manufacturer is saying.

Example #1: Progresso has a line of "Healthy" canned soup. They are Low Sodium, Reduced Fat and chock full of nutrition for only around 250 calories. The problem is IT'S TWO SERVINGS ! Example #2: One 12 oz. serving of 100% unsweetened Orange Juice = 12 Oranges... can you sit down and eat 12 oranges? How about 1/2 a can of soup?

The moral to this story is... To WATCH what you eat, you really have to READ what you eat. I've been given 3 months before my Dr. resorts to medications... I don't want another pill to take. I'll learn to fix my diet (Tomorrow... we have cheesecake in the fridge)

Bye, Bye, Birdie !

I'm already feeling lonely and she's still in the bathroom getting ready to leave. Zoe is on her way back to Washington, but it looks like she might be coming here to vegas in a year for a 3 year recruiting duty position. That'll be sweet !

We're getting her out the door right now, so I'll write more, later. I Already Miss Her. She's been here 3 weeks, and I've had more than my share of her time, this time, so I'm happy.

I'm going back to bed, now. I'll write more later