Organization is over rated...

I've been promising myself that I would start to better organize my life. Not to be an organizational Super Woman, mind you. Just get rid of some of the clutter mountain, and maybe be able to find things when I want them without having to don hiking gear and hire a sherpa guide. I started with the computer desk. Bad idea. The desk is the most disorganized area in my apartment. I started by telling the family that it'll be a group project. No way was I tackling this on my own. I didn't mess it up on my own, I'm not cleanin' it on my own. Plus, there's safety in numbers. If something reached out and grabbed me, I wanted back up!

It's amazing how much clutter you can accumulate and we found things not seen in quite a while. Among the detritus, we found 6 letter openers, an old cell phone, several computer programs we forgot we had, 4 phone books, 5 tubes of lip balm, 2 eyeglass repair kits, my missing mp3 player, 3 small flashlights, 5 staplers (one of which needs to be returned to my mother), and enough sticky note pads to wall paper the living room. Not to mention the numerous pens, pencils, old bill statements, and bits of paper with phone numbers. No names, just phone numbers, so of course we have no idea who the numbers belong to.

Is that a sign we should clean the desk more often? Probably. Will we do it? Probably not.

That was easier than I thought it would be.

Well, I worried for nothing on on the tilt table test. Turns out it really wasn't that bad and there was no fainting, so that was good! That means that I passed the test and don't have the blood pressure problem they were looking for. Yay for that! On the flip side though, it also means that still no answer for the vertigo.

I'm still hoping for the "It'll eventually go away on it's own" option. Time will tell.

Can't Wait For Tomorrow's Test!

In an earlier post, I wrote about my health issues and my battle with vertigo. For the past several months, my primary doc has been sending me to specialists to try and find a reason for it. So far no luck, but we're still looking. One of the specialists was a neurologist, and while he couldn't find a neurological reason for the vertigo, he did want to do an EMG test based on some other symptoms unrelated to the vertigo.

An EMG (electromyogram) tests the electrical activity of the muscles. In my case, he was looking for diabetic neuropathy. This nifty test uses a series of shocks and then needles to test said electrical activity. Wooohaaa! The shock portion was techincally another test, a nerve conduction velocity test, but from what I understand they're often done together. I was told it would be uncomfortable. Um, yes. Yes it was. And yes, I do have the neuropathy. Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage caused by the diabetes. Fortunately, it's still mild right now and I can deal with it. It's the least of my worries at this point.

Back to the vertigo, primary doc sent me for an echocardiogram. Now that test was fun! No, really, I do mean it was fun. It's basically an ultrasound done on your heart. I could see the monitor, and got a neat view of my heart beating. I could make out the chambers and valves, very cool! And painless, yay! No results from that yet, hopefully I'll get the all clear on that test.

I was also sent to see the cardiologist, who did a ekg(normal) and had me scheduled to have a tilt table test. The tilt table test, as it was explained to me, is being done to rule out a blood pressure problem as the cause of the vertigo and I will be on a table that does actually tilt, hence the name of the test. I'm going to have that done tomorrow, no.... make that today. It's after midnight now. I'm still awake because I'm a little nervous about this one. Simply put, in order to test for this blood pressure condition, they are going to try to make me pass out under controlled conditions. Pass out. Faint. Go unconcious. Nope, not lookin' forward to that. Not at all. Wish me luck!

Mary

I Miss Mr. Hooper

Sesame Street sometimes makes me feel a little old. Ok, I know...I'm only 40, far from old. That doesn't make me feel any better about it though. I think it's just because it seems like Sesame Street has been around forever and I tend to forget that the stuff I remember is new to younger people. Actually, Sesame Street is a year younger than me. Great, I'm older than Sesame Street. It still gives me a warm fuzzy feeling for all that, though.

I bring it up because my grandson got a couple of Elmo's World dvds for Christmas. In one of them was a clip of Mr. Hooper. Who remember's him? Most kid's now don't even realize there was a Mr. Hooper. I remember when he died, and they talked about it on the show. I don't remember particulars, but I remember it happening. I still miss Mr. Hooper. Seeing that made me feel all sad and nostalgic. *sigh* But it also brought back memories of the carefree days of childhood, and how something like a children's tv show can become a steady, yet ever changing part of it.

Well, you will always be alive in the memories of my generation of Sesame Street fans, Mr. Hooper!

Christmas Parties & Crazy Auctions

Have you ever been to a crazy auction? What....you've never heard of a crazy auction?! You lead a sheltered life. Get yourself to one, pronto! My husband and I belong to the local volunteer fire company, and at the Christmas party for the members and their families, we have a crazy auction instead of a traditional gift exchange. Sometimes the money raised gets donated to the company, but usually we'll all agree on a worthy cause or needy family to donate it to.

They work like this. You bring a wrapped gift (or gifts, if you're feeling generous) to be donated to the auction. The gifts are all auctioned off to the highest bidder, just like a real auction. The thing is, you don't know what you are getting because all of the gifts are wrapped. It could be anything! It can be a "normal" gift, like a nice mug, dvds or whatever. There are lots of "normal" things every year. Where it deviates from the norm, however, are the "haha, sucker!" gifts that are brought. Things like a roll of toilet paper, a can of pet food, a toy from the dollar store, stuff like that.

One year someone wrapped up a big huge box, and boy was that sucker heavy! What the "lucky" bidder got was a box full of sand bags and a few bricks. I think they paid $15 for it. For some reason, I always seem to get the "sucker" gifts. This year was different! I got jewelry! and I only paid $6 for it! Here's a picture of my lovely neclace.....








That is my beautiful, $6 candy necklace. Oh well, I got of cheaper than the auctioneer did. Yes, we let the auctioneer bid, too. He ain't gettin' of any easier than the rest of us! You know those tins of popcorn you can get for $5 or $6 bucks? He paid $22 for one. Ha! Whose the sucker now?!