This Facebook Status Can Die in a Fire

Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this

Last I recall Democrats try to enact programs to help those in our country who are homeless (govt home subsidies and loan programs), who go to bed without eating (welfare, foodstamps), elderly folks without meds (medicare) and mentally ill without treatment (healthcare reform) and Republicans try to stop them every step of the way. Which is ironic since the person who posted this is a...REPUBLICAN.

So what's their big plan to help those listed up there? Huh?

Besides, I didn't know this part of the bible pertained to just Americans:

"Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invited you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

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Facebook makes me really dislike people.

An Unhealthy Granola Bar from my Brain

I love it when the sun makes a grand appearance at the end of an otherwise gloomy day and casts a sun shadow.



Beautiful stuff.

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Good story from the weekend that I wanted to remember. I'm a little over a month away from turning 24, right? Well, I so got carded for a video game this weekend. A freaking video game. Which means someone looked at me and thought I could maybe be 17. I didn't know whether to laugh (hello, grey hairs, remember?) or cry (omg, I don't even look 20). So I sort of just shrugged it off with a I wish I was still 17.

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Randomness on my brain:

• Why do I love the idea of Taylor Swift and John Mayer dating? Perez Hilton tweeted both last night telling John to stay away from her and telling Taylor not to do it. Rumors aside, which are usually never true, I think they are always cute together on stage (like here and here).
• Why are granola bars 1) sold in the breakfast aisle and 2) not considered candy? Jonathan picked up a box yesterday and I swear to you, they are candy bars; like chocolate covered and oozing with peanut butter. Weird.
• Why did Prince William lose so much of his hair? Why is Prince Harry the hot one now? 12 year old me is still crushed.

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I downloaded the Hope for Haiti Now album on iTunes (it's $7.99) because I'm obsessed with Justin Timberlake's version of Hallelujah. Amazing.

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P.S. I'm taking questions at my Tumblr, anyone out there ever wanted to ask me anything? Go to this LINK, you can do so anonymously.

Saturday Shopping

I spent hours yesterday trying to find shoes that I liked. Finally finding those at the last place I stopped. Yesterday only affirmed for me what I already knew: I'm terrible at shopping. I always see people in malls who seem to be enjoying themselves, I am not those people.

The shoes are cute though, right?

Insert Clever Title Here

Jack just wants to be a lap dog like the other two. It's kind of adorable. It also hurts from time to time, but he doesn't understand that part.

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The run down

Classes: meh. I love, love, love, love, love my Modern American History class. Favorite professor, and the most kick ass subject ever: American history from 1974 through the election of Barack Obama. We watched Jon Stewart to open the class on Tuesday. That is awesome.

Haiti: is breaking my heart. I can't stop watching the coverage. As someone whose heart has been open to adoption for a long time now I just keep wishing I were at a stage of my life where adopting a couple of these orphans was an option. What a beautiful people, though. I hope they come back stronger than ever before after this.

Computer: I think mine is dying. It sucks. But what can you do? At least they aren't as expensive as they were when I bought the current one.

PS3: Jon used birthday money, christmas money and money my parents gave him to purchase one of these this past weekend. I'm completely smitten with it and the Netflix livestreaming feature.

Camera: I really want a new point and shoot. Something smaller than my fuji that I can carry around in my purse. I don't need it. But I'm pretty close to convincing myself I do. I'm beginning to smell a Birthday present.

Speaking of birthdays: I turn 24 this year. 24?! Where'd the time go?

In related news: I keep finding grey hairs in my head.

GREY HAIRS.

WHEN DID I GET OLD AND HOW DO I MAKE IT STOP?

P.S. What do you think, would going back to blonde cover these goofy stray hairs better?

P.P.S. It's for real like one hair. I find it in the middle of the top of my head every few weeks.

P.P.P.S. I still want it gone. Or at least not noticable.

Photo of the Day

I'm so thrilled the snow has melted. And today felt amazing. Almost spring-like if I dare say.



But Jack?


Jack is pretty much devastated.


He loved the snow. And the cold. And the frolicking.

So about that...

The Cardiologist.

My real beef with taking my father to the doctor anymore is that as the years have ticked on he truly has turned into his mother. And when I say that I mean he talks. And talks. And talks some more. And just when you think he can't possibly say another word...he does. The words detail oriented seem to only scratch the surface when it comes to him. Because the extent to which he can go on and on about his medical history simply astounds me sometimes. For example, yesterday the assistant asked how many prior surgeries he's had. I began the list: pump replaced 2 years ago, pump put in in 2001, 2 low back and 1 neck surgery between 1995 and 1999....

But that wasn't enough. Instead he began with the details. The date he got hurt on the job, the weeks after the injury that he kept working. What each doctor had ever said about anything. I could go on.

We all wanted him to visit his primary care physician to see about these problems. The details. The obsessive cleaning. The ocd stuff. But his family doctor got all freaked out over his heart instead and when my Dad pressed on these issues he told him they'd address all of that later.

Sigh.

So the cardiologist.

Overall it all seems like more of an exercise in omg you have to take these heart meds. He quit taking blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, all of that good stuff years ago and started smoking again. To the chagrin of his family, might I add. So we all sat in the corner snickering while he struggled to explain why he did all of that.

The doctor doubled his bp pill dosage and wants to see him back in four weeks to check up on that and have an echocardiogram to see about heart damage (the CHF question, I'm assuming).

I was pleased.

Dad spent all night reading the side effects of his new medicine.

Typical.

The Heart Patient

For years after my dad's summer of heart attacks I didn't sleep well. When I was living at home I'd often get up in the middle of the night to listen to him breathe. At school I would worry about getting a terrible call in the middle of the night. It was until 2 or so years ago that I stopped being so stressed out at night. (I was the only one who heard him yelling the night of his big one, so I lived in fear of not hearing another one.)

My dad didn't sleep well last night because he was worried if he did he'd never wake up again.

Tonight I'm wide awake. The anxiety has returned. I just want to puke. And I cried in the middle of the grocery store.

Tuesday he went to his family physician. His bp was elevated and the doctor put him back on blood pressure medication. He also did a full blood work up and an EKG. The EKG was abnormal. The enzyme test came back today and was elevated (they said 5.0 was normal and he's at 6.2). They told him he needed to be seen by his cardiologist as soon as possible or head to the ER.

It was a confusing few minutes (I don't know why M.As with no real experience are allowed to make such calls, you'd think the doctor could take a minute...but whatever). And there was a period in which I allowed myself every bad thought possible. Bad thoughts that included words like funeral and eulogy. Because that's what I do...think of the worst.

A phone call to my mom sorted things out a bit better. Her doctors and P.A.s decided that his levels were of concern but weren't panic worthy. Given his history and the congestive heart failure he might have, past heart damage could elevate the number, CHF could play a factor, nothing meant he was for sure having a heart attack this minute...etc.

So we made an appointment with the cardiologist (they were also aware of the numbers and felt waiting until Monday was okay and the ER could be avoided).

And this is where we are. Waiting (which I'm not good at), and trying not to panic (which I'm also not good at).

(I had to get this off my chest and 140 characters on Twitter were not doing the trick.)

Photos of the Day + Tweetial Pursuit: the follow up

So that arrived. I couldn't just leave my readers hanging, you know.

Jack has developed what I would consider an unhealthy addiction to paper. I'm not sure you can tell the pain on his face in this shot, but it's there because he's begging for a sheet of loose leaf and I wouldn't give it to him. You name a paper product and he wants it: printer paper, toilet paper, paper towels, coupons, magazines, books, wrapping paper. And if he keeps finding sources when nobody is looking I'm afraid he's eventually going to need surgery to remove it all.


The following three are of Jon and my mother taking advantage of my Netflix subscription by watching the latest from Bill Engvall. I don't know where Engvall falls in the pantheon of comics, but I can admit that I enjoy him very much. I can't stand the cable guy or the redneck joke guy, but Bill tells stories that remind me so much of my Dad. As you can see, it cracks us all up.