Rock Chalk!
Current mood: excited
Category: Sports

Gosh, I love being a Jayhawk!

It’s been a good year for the Jayhawks and on Monday night...I can only hope it gets even better.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk - KU!

11:19 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos

13 Seconds in August
Category: Friends

This is an incredible piece about the bridge collaps done by the Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/local/12166286.html

(this link was updated 1/7/08)

12:05 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

2 Months in my Life

On 8/9/07 I adopted a kitten. She was 8 wks old, and adorable. I named her Moxxie (strange fact...all animals in our family have to have double letters). One week later, I was in San Antonio, TX working on a project. So, I toted Moxxie and Sophee (my 7 yr old cat), to my mother's. I wasn't sure how long I would be working in TX on this project. As it turns out, I was there 6 wks.

I experienced a lot while I was down there. I enjoyed a week's stay downtown San Antonio and visited the River Walk. If you ever get a chance, you have to see it. It's absolutely gorgeous. Restaurants line the river and there are people everywhere - it's a great festive atmosphere and at night, tiny lights go on in the trees overhead. I ate dinner at one of the outdoor restaurants and enjoyed the sights and sounds.

I went to a Broadway play at the Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio. I saw 12 Angry Men. While flying a leg from Dallas to San Antonio, I sat next to Mike Boland, Juror 1, who encouraged me to go see the show. So I did. I went alone and completely enjoyed it. Afterwards, I waited like a groupie outside the stage door until Mike came out and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for coming. And then I drove back to my hotel without getting lost - a feat I hardly think I could do in Minneapolis.

Back in Minnesota on the weekends, I went camping with my friends one weekend, helped out at a benefit another, then another weekend held a long overdue garage sale. Each weekend I returned to MN, I drove to mom's to visit my cats and tried to remind the little one that I am actually her mother.

Oh and during that garage sale, I was attacked by a German Shepard. I had known his since my mom's neighbor got him a little over a year ago, so I thought nothing of going over to pet him like I always had. I stopped first to pet the exuberant Golden Retreiver, Rusty and then headed over to Max, the German Sheppard. He was barking up a storm and jumped on me and I absent mindedly pushed him down. Then he jumped on me again and this time I felt pain in my left arm. I realized he had me in his teeth and quickly got him off of me and backed away. By this time, his teeth were bared and the hackles on his back were up. We found out later that he has been getting more and more aggressive and that he hadn't been fixed yet. Luckily he didn't break the skin, just bruised me badly. He has now been fixed! That'll teach any guy to attack me...

Returning to MN the last week in October, I found out I didn't have to travel for the project anymore. Bittersweet...I was sort of enjoying my time down there and certainly getting to know my way around. And of course, the weather is much nicer than here. However, it is so nice to be home with my cats at my side and able to do things with my friends again.

I had a birthday. Not quite 40 yet. That will be next year. I am not too worried - I've enjoyed my 30s (mostly) and I expect to mostly enjoy my 40s. I celebrated my birthday with my two best friends at Benihana - yum!

And then last week, I had one of my most graceful moments. I tripped over a speed bump, while carrying groceries in both hands. This left only my face to catch my fall...a trip to the ER and the only thing broken was a fingernail (which for me, is quite traumatic). I did get 4 stitches on the bridge of my nose and still have to visit the dentist to make sure there has been no permanent damage to my jaw or teeth. The stitches came out yesterday - my nose is still very tender and I can't breathe normally yet. I think the swelling in my lips has finally gone down. I've been toying with a new "no botox" lip enhancement theory, but I am sure the FDA won't approve of the side affects!

Oh and that's not all the fun I've had this week... I also had a colonoscopy. Awhile back, my dermatologist put me on methotrexate for my psoriasis. (Methotrexate interferes with the production and maintenance of DNA, which is the genetic material in the cells of the body. Methotrexate has a greater effect on cells that reproduce often such as cancer cells, bone marrow cells, skin cells, and others. This is how methotrexate works in the treatment of cancer and psoriasis.) It worked great...except I experienced a lot of bleeding you know where. So, the dermatologist stopped the treatment. The bleeding stopped, too. And then twice when I was in Texas, it started again and I wasn't taking the methotrexate.  So, a call to the doctor, a very uncomfortable exam and I am told to get a colonoscopy. (A colonoscopy is a routine, safe, and effective procedure that healthcare providers use to visually examine the full lining of the colon and rectum. This procedure is the best way for a healthcare provider to view the entire colon to see if there are any problems. Most colonoscopies are done on an outpatient basis with minimal inconvenience and discomfort.) Only that part about minimal inconvenience is a load of crap (pun intended!).

I already wasn't eating much because my lips were so cut up from the fall and my teeth hurt. So cutting back on food wasn't really a problem at first. A low fiber diet is no fun though. On Wednesday, I started the really fun part - a bottle of magnesium citrate and I was in the bathroom the rest of the evening. Thursday, I wasn't allowed to eat anything, only a clear liquid diet. By 3pm I was dying. Thusday evening I started the MoviPrep (cute title for a pain in the ass procedure, literally). The stuff tastes terrible and you have to drink a little bit every 15 minutes for an hour. The anticipation each 15 minutes got worse and worse. And the beauty of it all...I knew I had to do this all over again the next day. Note to anyone...if you have to have this procedure, schedule it first thing Monday morning. My appointment wasn't until 2:30 in the afternoon - by that time, I was ready to eat dirt! And I was completely cleaned out!!

The procedure itself was quick and just a little uncomfortable. Of course, because it's me I am sure, it took them 3 tries to finally get an IV going. I didn't think I'd want to watch, but I did. Apparently I didn't get as woozy and ditzy as most people do on the relaxers even though they had to give me 3 doses (must mean I am already ditzy). They found a LARGE polyp, according to the nurse who did the follow up (a polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue (tumor) projecting from a mucous membrane). It will be examined for cancer, but effectively, at this point, if it was cancerous, it's gone. However, the doctor couldn't find any reason for the bleeding, so stay tuned for further developments. And that brings me to 11/9/07...2 months in my life.

If every 2 month period of my life were to be this adventurous, I will have a fulfilling life!

8:03 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

It’s a good year to be a Jayhawk!
Category: School, College, Greek

I've always been proud to be a Jayhawk. Not because the basketball team rocks (most of the time). If anyone remembers my first Late Night with Larry Brown, they'll remember I fell asleep! I was not a basketball fan until I experienced an NCAA Championship in '87 and an incredible victory party along Jayhawk Boulevard!

I loved the experience of attending KU. I might have lived in MN my whole life, but I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. I made some pretty incredible friends and some great memories.

I used to love to go to the football games. Tickets were easy to come by because the team was so terrible. Over the years, I've failed to even follow the team's progress. But, as I was down in San Antonio, TX for 6 wks this year, smack dab in the middle of Big 12 Country (of course I remember it as the Big Eight and TX was just another state) I was informed that KU is actually ranked this year. No kidding? Really? For football? So, today I checked it out and we're ranked 5th! According to one site, KU hasn't started a season 10-0 since the 1800's. Yeeee!  Perhaps I'd better jump on the wagon.

And of course, I will always be a Jayhawks hoops fan. I see we are currently ranked 4th. Over the years, I've learned to not get my hopes up though.

But, I just gotta say, it sure feels good to be a Jayhawk today. (Of course, it's even better since the Vikings have pretty much failed me...and the Twins).

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

7:46 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

A Friend in Need of Your Get Well Mojo: I35W Bridge Collapse Victim
Current mood: sad
Category: Friends

On August 1 at approximately 6:09pm, the normal lives of many Minnesotans were forever changed. A bridge collapsed on a well traveled road, sending over 100 vehicles either into the Mississippi below or onto broken concrete. To date, we are lucky, only 9 fatalities have been identified, however there are still people missing. And there are 4 people still hospitalized with serious injuries.

A friend of mine, Mercedes Gorden was on that bridge. The car in front of her made is safely to the other side. She was so close. Her car took a 60 foot plummet off of the bridge when the pavement below opened up sending her nose first into the river bank below. Her airbag and seat belt saved her life...and we are extremely fortunate to still have her with us!

Mercedes is struggling to stay positive as this has been a traumatic experience. She suffered multiple injuries, including shattered ankles, feet and shins, and a fractured spine. Mercedes has already endured seven operations to repair her feet and will be in a hard-shell body cast for several months. She will require extensive and long-term rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to normal mobility.

The good news is that she'll be able to walk again.  She needs to be in a body cast and wheelchair for the next few months and will have countless physical therapy sessions, but again...she's a fighter, and her will-power will prevail.   

If you want to visit the website Jake, her fiancé' has set up with Caring Bridge, here is the web address: http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=mercedesgorden

Jake says she looks forward to reading her guestbook, so take a minute to let her know that you are sending some special get well mojo her way.

8:49 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

This Statement is False
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Several times in the past year, I have found religious bullshit stuck in the driver's window of my car. Mind you, I park in a garage at a major corporation. I always look around to see if anyone else has a pamphlet stuck on their car. I've never seen any others. Now, I've always thought...is this a joke? Does someone know that I am not a believer? Hardly - none of the people I work with know what I drive. So who is putting this crap on my car? In the back of my mind, I admit, I wonder...but nah....

A couple of weeks ago, I went out to my "new" car and found a pamphlet stuck in the window. Hey...I have a new vehicle, how'd they find me? Still, no other vehicles with pamphlets around me. I looked at this one. On the cover is a skydiver with the NO symbol on him. The pamphlet is titled: If at first you don't succeed...Don't try skydiving! 101 of the world's funniest one liners. Hmmmm! Not religious crap?! I glanced through it and read some of the lines - kind of funny. Now we're talking. Someone knows I like comedy!

The next day, I was telling a co-worker about it. I showed him the pamphlet. He reads through it. Chuckles a couple of times. And then he starts laughing really hard. He turns it around, and there...in the middle of the pamphlet is the religious crap! Damn...now they are getting sneaky. And I am pissed. It's one thing to put it on my car, walk away hoping that I'll somehow read it and BAM! I am a convert. But now you've got to trick me? That's low.

And that's what I don't like about organized religion. It's sneaky. They talk in riddles. You never know who you can trust. So, to whomever is putting this stuff on my car...it ain't working. It's backfiring. I am not converting. I am still not buying your story.

But I did find several of the one liners to be funny...see for yourself:

Courduroy pillows: They're making headlines!
A day without sunshine is like night.
What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
Energizer Bunny arrested; charged with battery.
This statement is false.
I can handle pain until it hurts.
Honk if you like peace and quiet.
Why is "abbreviation" such a long word?
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
Don't steal. The government hates competition.
IRS: We've got what it takes to take what you have got.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

9:04 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Why Do I Bother with the Vikings?
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Sports

Why? Week after week, I dress in my purple and gold, put on my Vikings bracelet and my helmet earrings and I cheer on my home town team. I've even asked my nail salon if they can do a Vikings logo on my nails! 

I love them. I have always loved them...even those many years I lived in Kansas and rooted on the Chiefs, the Vikings were always my boys.

But damn, if they don't try my patience. Troy Williamson: QB Brad Johnson threw to Williamson four times on the afternoon. He caught one for four yards, dropped another that would have been a long gain, and watched as a third was tipped into the air and eventually intercepted. After a great start to the season, Williamson has gone down hill in a hurry. The team: For the second consecutive week the Vikings offense stumbled, and for the second consecutive week, they found themselves on the short end of the stick, losing to the 49ers 9-3 in San Francisco. I mean...come on, the 49ers!  

However, I will remain a Vikings fan. I will cheer them on each week. Because I love my boys. Because I am not a fairweather fan. Because, some might say...I am an idiot. I choose to think I am a frustrated optimist. Some day, they'll make it to a SuperBowl and maybe they'll even win it! I am also a realist...neither one of my fantasy teams has a Vikings player on it.

8:06 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Diagnosis: Yuck!
Current mood: gloomy
Category: Life

Yesterday, October 18, 2006 I was diagnosed with psoriasis.

Psoriasis [pronounced sore-EYE-ah-sis] is a noncontagious, lifelong skin disease. I have the most common form, plaque [plak] psoriasis, appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells, called scale. Most researchers agree that the immune system is somehow mistakenly triggered, which speeds up the growth cycle of skin cells. A normal skin cell matures and falls off the body's surface in 28 to 30 days. But a psoriatic skin cell takes only three to four days to mature and move to the surface. Instead of falling off (shedding), the cells pile up and form the lesions.

Sound gross? Yea...try living with it.

Actually, for the last 4 months I thought I had ringworm. (Which by the way, has nothing to do with worms) Now that's gross. I felt like I had creepy crawlies all over me (actually fungus - it's the same as athlete's foot and jock itch). And there was no way I was letting any man near me. I've had 2 doctors treating it, both thinking it was ringworm. I've tried all sorts of crap even something off the internet. It has spread to every area of my body - EVERY area. Disgusting. I changed towels every day, changed my sheets every night. I think about the money I've wasted and the feelings of absolute disgust to be me.

It's funny, when I went to the dermatologist yesterday, her assistant asked me what I was in for. I really thought I had both, ringworm and psoriasis. She laughed and said, "I bet you hope it's ringworm." I thought that was kind of a funny response since I would never wish that on anyone. To think you have a nasty fungus all over your body, that you're contagious to everyone around you and ew....no way. But I wondered also, why? Is psoriasis really that bad? I thought it was just really dry skin - get a little ointment and you're done.

WRONG!

A lifelong skin disease. Ok, so I don't have creepy crawlies, I am not contagious, but I've got this crap for life. Whoa. The doc started listing treatments, ointments, orals and injections. She did not just say INJECTIONS! I always said I'd be a terrible diabetic. I took home some brochures - thank god, cuz once she said lifelong disease and injections, I kind of tuned out. 

Of course, her favorite method of treatment is injections. You may have seen the commercials for Enbrel. She also mentioned an oral. I've got 2 wks to decide. 

I told my friends about my diagnosis. Several told me they had relatives or friends who swore by tanning - sunlight helps stop skin growth. Maybe there is an upside...hardly. One friend said her mother lost her hair while she was on Enbrel! And the problem with the orals is that they are really hard on your liver and can cause damage and I've read that they entirely screw up your immune system. Well shit. I joined a Yahoo group - everyone on there was extolling the virtues of pomegranite juice.  

So now I know what I have. I've got 2 wks to decide. Sometimes an answer leads to way too many questions.  Some day...3 or 4 months from now I hope to have clear skin again (I heard that one of the chics on America's Next Top Model has psoriasis). And for the rest of my life, I will live in fear of the next outbreak.  

6:52 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

You can take that kind of camping and...
Category: Travel and Places

So last weekend, the gang...that would be Wanda, Valerie and I went camping. Camping... In Minnesota... In October....What were we thinking?

I'd watched the weather forecast all week. They predicted snow every day of the week, clearing up for the weekend: 46 and partly cloudy Saturday and 55 and sunny on Sunday. Not too bad. Except that at night, temperatures were set to drop below freezing.

Now, we don't do your average camping. It's all about the food, relaxing and drinking and the food and relaxing and drinking! We can't do a hike in site - it would take us hours to set up. Each one of us has a tent. We all have air mattresses. I usually bring 2-3 chairs, they each bring 1. Wanda and I got ceiling fans for out tents this summer! And we usually have 5-6 coolers between the 3 of us!

Food...that's our favorite. Wanda kind of copped out on us this time, but we'll forgive her. She made pasta that she just needed to reheat. Not really camping food. I usually do breakfast - hashbrowns with ham and cheese and onions (although Wanda gets hers before the onions go in), bacon, eggs, mimosas (champagne with orange juice) and on occasion sausange. This is all cooked over a fire, of course. I got a great tripod which has been a blessing for cooking and this year I picked up a cast iron skillet at a thrift store. Valerie planned to do pizzas. That's right - pizza. We use just regular bread, pizza sauce, you name the fixins', cheese and those awesome sandwich makers - all done on the fire. We don't do lunch - that's all snacks - everything Wanda and Valerie don't normally get to eat (I eat anything, any time).

We got to Wild River State Park  before 6pm, got our tents set up and started the fire for dinner. So far, so good. Valerie brought her motorcycle tent, which meant that one of the dogs would sleep with me - I chose Missy. Lucky me - Jackson threw up in the middle of the night!

By 10 we were very ready for bed. Oh my, holy crap was it friggin cold all night long. I don't think I slept more than 1 hr at a time. Nothing I did would stave off the cold. At 8am, I got up and announced I wouldn't be staying another night. Valerie seconded my call.

But we did stay for the day on Saturday. I cooked breakfast. Valerie and Wanda took the dogs for a walk - I figured I'd try to sleep in my car. I must have dozed off. When I woke, I found our friends Nancy and Megan staring in the windows! I turned around and then found Megan's husband's Dave's ass, buck naked against my passenger window! Ew Gross!

So now we snacked, played some cribbage, Megan brought Apples to Apples so we played that too. Dave, Megan and Nancy decided to take a hike and the three of us tore down camp. By 5:00pm we were ready to head back home.

I love camping, but I hate to be cold. And what's one of our camping trips without a story like this. I'll have to share our other camping dramas another time! Of our 4 trips, only 1 had beautiful weather and very few problems...and we didn't leave early. The other 3 - those are stories for another time.

7:42 PM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Religion: My Views
Current mood: contemplative

Despite the fact that I am not a religious person, religion has played a pretty big part in my life.

When I was young, my family belonged to the United Church of Christ. I have fond memories of potlucks and art projects during Advent. I don't remember much about God and Sunday school (I was pretty young).

Later, my family joined my mother's childhood church, Incarnation Lutheran. We joined just before I started confirmation classes. What a joke. I remember looking around at all the kids in my class thinking, these guys aren't ready to say they believe in all this. They are more interested in partying and being cool. I don't remember at that time, thinking that organized religion was phony. That came later. I went through the motions, I learned what I was told and didn't question it. Which is exactly what they want kids to do.

I believe it was shortly after I was confirmed, that I started hanging out with friends from a Baptist youth group. Oddly enough, these kids were pretty spiritual for teenagers. For two years, I went to summer church camp with them. It was supposedly a non-denominational camp. I had so much fun and learned a lot about religion.

It was the fall of 10^th grade, when I told my friend that I wanted to be a camp counselor the following year. Without any hesitation, she told me I couldn't. Shocked, I asked "Why not?" She informed me that I wasn't a Christian, in her church's eyes, so I couldn't be a counselor. I asked her what it meant to be a Christian in her church. She told me that you had to accept God, by being baptized as an adult (teenager). I explained to her that in my church, that's what we called confirmation, it was a confirmation of my beliefs. That wasn't good enough for her and her church. I was devastated.

That's when my mistrust of organized religion began. Who was she to say I wasn't a Christian? Why was one religion any better than another? Isn't it more of a personal relationship with God that matters?

Later on in my life, during college, I got a letter from "my" church informing that I was no longer a member because I hadn't made any financial contributions to the church. So, the poor can't be members of "my" church?

After graduating from college, I dated a guy whose family belonged to a Roman Catholic Church. These weren't the same Catholics most people meet. David's family still went to services performed entirely in Latin. They did not recognize the Pope; he'd been to other religious services, therefore he had worshiped other Gods. The women always wore dresses and scarves on their heads at church. Every child born into their family had to be named after a saint. There were 11 kids in his family; the oldest 33, the youngest 4. The youngest girls would talk to me about abortion. These were the people you see outside abortion clinics, shooting at doctors; all was ok in the name of their religion. Every son in their family had smoked marijuana, had run around with women, had committed every sin in the books, but they were forgiven as long as they confessed every Sunday. Each of the girls left the family as soon as she was old enough and got pregnant before getting married, but that too, was forgiven because she had confessed her sins. One son was being tested for cancer and whispered behind his back were the accusations that he must have really sinned. Well, there you have it, the cure for cancer: confession! Every family event I went to, I was pulled aside by one family member or another to discuss my eventual conversion. This family lived in fear of God. God did not represent love. I left David, shortly after he threatened to kill me.

I've run into people throughout my life, who said they knew God. Really? Which version? So over the years, I've learned to mistrust organized religion. I've questioned who's interpretation of the Bible is best. I've wondered why Christians have so many splits within their faith. I've thought, who has it right, Christians, Muslims, Jews? Who are we, humans, to judge? What about those people in some far reaches of the world, who have never met another human being outside of their own and worship something else – are they wrong? Why? We don't know. No one can know. You can believe, you can have faith, but you do not know.

Shame on you Andrea (see comment to my Death and Dying blog). That blog was not about religion, I said that was for another time, but you couldn't help yourself, but to insert your beliefs into it. You want so badly for me to believe what you believe that you had to say something. Your comment only succeeded in pissing me off and further adding to my mistrust of all things religious

So many churches have lost sight of God. They ask their parishioners for more and more money, so they can build a bigger church, so they can compete with the church down the street. Better robes for the choir, million dollar organs, bigger churches, state of the art PA systems. What's up with that? I loved the line from the movie, Stigmata, "The kingdom of God is within you and around you. My Church is not made of wood, stone or mortar. Split a piece of wood and I am there. Look under a rock and you will find me." Religion should be simple and personal. Now, don't get me wrong. I do think that community and a sense of belonging is important for some people. But lets not lose sight of why you are there.

I don't even want to get into the rules and the Bible. I believe the Bible is a purly human vessel. I do not believe that it represents the teachings of God. There are too many interpretations and times noted throughout history that humans have interferred with it to make me believe that it is the end all be all word. My friend Curt's blog touches on this a bit: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=57749084&blogID=166315722&Mytoken=E826AE50-692A-49D1-9A6EBB244993F62121385497

So, when I say I am not religious. When I say I don't believe in God. It does not mean that I am without faith. I honestly believe there is something bigger than all of us. It may be one entity, it may be a counsel. I do know now. I do not pretend to know. I just have faith that there is something bigger than me, bigger than all of us. So, I live my life believing that I should try to treat others as I would want them to treat me – I try not to judge them because they believe differently than me. I ask that they do the same for me.

1:20 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment