Here. We Go. Again...

Good Morning Everyone!
Now begins the season...
I do not do well with the cold.
That said, the oil in the tank must have taken a hit these last two days. (honestly, my back cannot stand the cold; and it hurts so bad)...
Not sure what's up with that.





I washed and sorted my turtlenecks and sweatshirts last week, and am going to be getting in the shower shortly. I'll be standing there for quite a while too-
I've been fighting a migraine all week- come and go- - come and go; on and off, and on again. Nasty that. I will be keeping this short.

Casey came out yesterday, driving out in the rain; and bringing my camera in from outside!!! I can't believe I left it out there!
We tore it apart almost immediately- Memory card placed on my warm laptop, battery in the charger after it was dried- and the camera on the floor by the register.

It seems to have worked! Check these out...





Taken just as the rain changed to snow---

      ......... 

Looks like I'd best get out there and at least try to close that door.
Everything, well almost everything, is covered... Still, it's not right. hehehe

And this one, my favorite- Taken 3 nights ago-




Hope y'all have a 'wunnaful' Wednesday!

XOXO
Me

PS
While the snow we get won't last long, (this time) I am still not thrilled with the prospect of another cold Winter.

From todays forecast pages:
Watches and Warnings
Green Bay Forecast

...RAPID CHANGE TO SNOW EXPECTED TO OCCUR ACROSS CENTRAL THROUGH NORTHEAST WISCONSIN BY 900 AM...

PRECIPITATION FROM A LARGE STORM SYSTEM WAS SURGING NORTH ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. THE SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO EXPAND ACROSS MOST OF THE REST OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN BY MID-MORNING...

GROUND TEMPERATURES ARE STILL ABOVE FREEZING...AND THAT WILL INITIALLY SLOW SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. THE SNOW WILL ALSO BE OF THE HEAVY WET VARIETY...AND THAT COULD EVENTUALLY CAUSE TREE LIMBS TO BREAK AND FALL ON POWER LINES...LEADING TO POWER OUTAGES.
TRAVEL CONDITIONS COULD ALSO START TO DETERIORATE AS THE SNOW CONTINUES.

CALL the VET!!!

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

A dog lover, whose dog was a female and "in heat," agreed to look after
her neighbors' male dog and house while they were away on vacation.
She had a large house and believed that she could keep the dogs apart.

However, as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard awful howling and moaning sounds. She rushed downstairs and found the dogs locked together and unable to disengage as frequently happens when dogs mate.

Unable to separate them, although it was late, she called the vet,
who answered in a very grumpy voice.

After she explained the problem to him, the vet said, "Hang up the phone and place it down alongside the dogs. I will then call you back and the noise of the ringing will make the male lose his erection and be able to withdraw."

"Do you think that will work?" she asked.

"It just worked for me," he replied.

Turkeys in My Basement! ~Er, No, wait...

A frosty morning-
Taken a few days ago...

Good Morning All;
I woke this morning, chilled- it was still dark- Quiet too, as I'd slept in the living room...
The first thing to do is to let Punk out.
Soon as I'd opened the door, the rain hit me in the face; driven hard, and cold too.  Hearing the forecast, more of the same, (possibly mixed with the "S" word), for today and tomorrow. (This proves little help to warm me).
Ugh!

Speaking of "eek" ...was too!  ('Ugh' and 'eek' fall into the same windblown genre of word usage), Punk did me a favor a while back.
(At least I think it was a favor)...

I'd been down in the basement, cleaning out the sh/L-itterbox when Punk made a very strange sound.
Turning to see, she was literally 'pointing' out something... No, I do not take my unpredictable, (and somewhat "possessed"), camera down with me while I am doing that stinky task.  hehehe

Punk was staring at the wall above and between my water softener and my water heater...

 ... I looked.

There seemed to be quite a problem with some of the insulation...


Yeah. Crap. That's not right at all.
I am not sure if she saw anything move- But if she didn't, I don't think she would have pointed that way?

See the insulation in the next photo-


That's the way it's supposed to look!

Yes, wait a second, it gets WORSE...

I have some old pink insulation out in the pumphouse. Thepumphouse is 75 feet away from the house


But I took the picture in my basement!?! (Add 'eek' or 'ugh' as you wish)

Imagine how baffled I was; how very complicated this mess had just become...
As i was shooting a few pics, I realized, of a sudden, my own welcomed animals had become quiet, nonexistent.
(Completely disappeared would be the right description).
The Cowards!

Looking around at this mess I call a basement, I found Punk...

She must have thought she fit right in with the junk...   hehehe


"Busted!"
Almost camouflaged she was; save for those eyes.
(And, as always, that mischievous grin on her face).  hehehe

But ok- Where the dickens was The Sputnik?

I found him too-
On the opposite side of the basement...


  ... in the crawlspace!!!  (NOTE: 'ugh' and 'eek' definitely apply)  hehehe 
Perhaps he knows something that I don't know. (I really don't want to know).

I believe I will be having a bit of company this Friday!
I met Christy as she replied to an ad I had posted on Yahoo's Free Stuff, many moons ago. My back was really bad that year and I could not keep up with picking all my beans. Christy, among others had replied, and we have stayed in touch ever since!
Christy has 8 children- At the end of the month they will be adopting 2 more little girls!
She has offered to bring herself, and her crew of 8 children, (ages 11-17), on Friday to come and clean -and maybe even get the outside ready for Winter!
I am thrilled; honored, that they will come.
(Maybe she didn't expect me to accept her offer)! hehehe

A few weekends ago, friend Duane came up from Milwaukee, on his Harley; and with one of his young sons.
His son had wanted to buy the old Buick Roadmaster, "as is, where is"!
As soon as they hit Sheboygan it had begun to rain- (That should have told them what kind of day lay ahead for them). hehehe
Friend Lynn had also come out that day- and helped me as I tried to charge up the battery and put air in the drivers front tire.
By the time Duane and his son arrived, they were soaked to the skin; right through the riding gear.
The charger did nothing for the battery- Duane only had the Harley, but I had my Rendezvous- We hooked the 2 cars up and waited and waited- the battery would simply not take a charge!
I called Fleet Farm- Fortunately they were open for another 25 minutes- I sent Duane and his son off in the Rendezvous... They even made it there and out by the time the store closed!

An hour or so later, the Roadmaster roared to life- We cleared a place in the old shed for Duane to leave his bike overnight, as he wisely chose a ride home in the dry of the car.




Getting ready to leave for home.
I waited to hear from them, that they had made it home.
They did, safe and sound.
I am happy that the old girl went to a decent person too.

Casey was out about weeks ago and as she was fixing to leave, she happened to look back toward the woods-




What a beautiful leader they have this year!
A completely white, wild turkey! He is so pretty! I hope no one shoots it...

Now tell me WHY can't I have TURKEYS in my basement???

My love to all.  Have a 'wunnaful' warm Tuesday!

XOXO
Me

PS
Yes, I told Randy almost immediately when I saw the basement...
He has not shown up here, except for while he is 'on duty', since.
Methinks he's scared!!!    hehehe

Reincarnation is in ALL religions.

Reincarnation is in all religions.

• Why do people find reincarnation a difficult concept to accept? 
• Can reincarnation be validated? 
• Are we born with certain values and ideals? 

So many many questions, as one of my favorite believers truly delivers in this interview with "Life Positive".

Brian Weiss Speaks Out on Past-Life Therapy

Having accidentally encountered past lives and reincarnation, Dr Brian Weiss took time to accept what came to pass. He went on to research many such mystical and religious ideas, turning him into a doctor who [is] enlightened.
An interview with the author of bestselling books such as "Many Lives, Many Masters", excerpted from Voices of Truth (Full Circle)

Treating patients by guiding them through recollections of their previous lives is just about the last thing Dr Brian Weiss thought he would be doing.

A prominent South Florida psychiatrist, before the age of 35 he was the first Chief of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and a professor at the University of Miami's medical school.
He was publishing papers and becoming a nationally recognized expert on psychopharmacology and considered himself the kind of guy who rarely gave much thought to anything mystical, philosophical or spiritual.

One patient changed all that. Weiss calls her Catherine in his first best-selling book, "Many Lives, Many Masters" (1988), eight years after he began treating the young woman...

Photo from here

There is SO much more; history, and all else, within that article.
Please read on at www.lifepositive.com/Mind/personal-growth/past-life/brian-weiss.asp

I eagerly read that book when it first came out- Luckily stumbling onto it as I bided time, waiting for my neighbor to join us down at the mall.
Incidentally I was the ONLY person in the "New Age" section of the bookstore. Now, 20-some years later, you will hear many times the phrase, "Oh, excuse me!" -as we bump bodies and reach over/under everyone else that is there; and perusing a now full selection of writings by reputable people.

What a nice thing to see; as people truly are turning INSIDE themselves to search for obvious knowledge, truth and trust.

What follows in the article could have been entitled "Many Questions, Many Answers"

Please click here.

Happy Sunday to all! Have a "wunnaful" one!

XOXO,
Me

YU-55 (No, it's not an abortion pill).

http://www.universetoday.com/90650/asteroid-2005-yu55-gets-closer-to-earth-no-chance-of-an-impact/
It's COMING! And it's BIG!!!

Holy Freakin' Ay!
(It's best to click the link). hehehe

Yes, it’s coming. Yes, it’s big. Yes, it will be even closer than the Moon. And yes… we’re completely safe.

The 400-meter-wide asteroid 2005 YU55 is currently zipping through the inner Solar System at over 13 km (8 miles) a second. On Tuesday, November 8, at 6:28 p.m. EST, it will pass Earth, coming within 325,000 km (202,000 miles). This is indeed within the Moon’s orbit (although YU55′s trajectory puts it a bit above the exact plane of the Earth-Moon alignment.) Still, it is the closest pass by such a large object since 1976… yet, NASA scientists aren’t concerned. Why?

Because its orbit has been well studied, there’s nothing in its way, and frankly there’s simply nothing it will do to affect Earth.

Animation of 2005 YU55's trajectory on Nov. 8. (NASA/JPL) Click to play.

Period.

2005 YU55′s miniscule gravity will not cause earthquakes. It has no magnetic field. It will not strike another object, or the Moon, or the Earth. It will not come into contact with cometary debris, Elenin, a black dwarf, Planet X, or Nibiru. (Not that those last three even exist.) No, YU55 will do exactly what it’s doing right now: passing through the Solar System. It will come, it will go, and hopefully NASA scientists – as well as many amateur astronomers worldwide – will have a chance to get a good look at it as it passes.

Scientists with NASA’s Near-Earth Objects Observation Program will begin tracking YU55 on Friday, November 4 using the 70-meter radar telescope at the Deep Space Network in Goldstone, California , as well as with the Arecibo Planetary Radar Facility in Puerto Rico beginning November 8. These facilities will continue to track it until the 10th.

This close pass will offer a great opportunity to get detailed radar imaging of YU55, an ancient C-type asteroid literally darker than coal. Since these objects can be difficult to observe using visible light, radar mapping can better reveal details about their surface and composition.

To help inform the public about YU55 NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena recently hosted a live Q&A session on Ustream featuring specialists Marina Brozovic, a Goldstone Radar Team scientist, and Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program. They fielded questions sent in via chat and Twitter… a recording of the event in its entirety can be seen below:

Video streaming by Ustream

Undoubtedly there will still be those who continue to spread misinformation about 2005 YU55. After all, they did the same with the now-disintegrated comet Elenin. But the truth is out there… and the truth is that there’s no danger, no cover-ups, no “plots”, and simply no cause for concern.

“It’s completely safe… no chance of an impact.”

– Don Yeomans, JPL

Read more about YU55 on our previous post or  on NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program site.

UPDATE: JPL has released a brief video about YU55 featuring research scientist Lance Benner, who specializes in radar imaging of near-Earth objects:

Although classified as a potentially hazardous object, 2005 YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over at least the next 100 years. However, this will be the closest approach to date by an object this large that we know about in advance and an event of this type will not happen again until 2028 when asteroid (153814) 2001 WN5 will pass to within 0.6 lunar distances. – Near-Earth Object Program, JPL

Jason is a graphic artist from Rhode Island now living and working in Dallas, Texas. He writes about astronomy and space exploration on his blog Lights In The Dark, here on Universe Today and also on Discovery News.

So will you be watching it?

XOXO
Me

Diabetes-Pancreatitis Breakthrough - Given by Casey's Surgeons!

Start:	Nov 17, '11 7:00p
Location:	WEBINAR

This is quite possibly your ONLY chance to ask “Live” questions to one of the world’s leading TP/AIT (transplant) surgeon!



JAN 2nd, 2009 - CaseyAnne & Dr. David E. R. Sutherland


Diabetes-Pancreatitis Breakthrough!

Awareness Night  -  Webinar!
Thursday, November 17, 2011 @5pm PST

Presented by Dr. David Sutherland and Dr. Melena Bellin.

Live Q & A by the world renowned surgeon Dr.David Sutherland & Dr. Melina Bellin.

Casey has had them both, with Dr. Bellin removing her blood clot- the size of a  lemon- PLUS over 2 LITERS of blood and other fluid from her abdomen- (This was 10 days after her TP/AIT).  Please CLICK HERE to read that blog.
or do the click
www.flintville.multiply.com/journal/item/721/UPDATE_IN_COMMENTS_More_Surgery..._More_Prayers...


The Diabetes-Pancreatitis Breakthrough Awareness Night
"One of the world's leading transplant surgeons, Dr. David Sutherland who performed the first living donor partial pancreas transplant in the world in 1979, will be the feature guest speaker at the Diabetes-Pancreatitis Breakthrough Awareness Night.

This is an educational event for not only for adults & children who have pancreatitis, diabetes or low blood sugar; but also for medical professionals, caregivers, friends and families who are interested in learning more about the treatment options for pancreatitis and diabetes.
CLICK HERE to register.

Dr. David Sutherland, transplant surgeon and Dr. Melena Bellin, pediatric endocrinologist, will be explaining the latest and most innovative technologies to improve quality of life for patients affected by pancreatitis and diabetes.
They will explain the before and after process of an islet cell transplant via an online webinar and will answer questions "LIVE!"

Please click on my "Sutherland" tag to read more about him.

*Photo of CaseyAnne with Dr. Sutherland
taken only 4 days after her 2nd surgery (abscess)!!

Daylight Saving Time–second half of 2011. Plus Trivia

Start:	Nov 6, '11 02:00a
Location:	US; and World Wide

November 6th, 2011
Set Clocks BACK one hour (in the United States).
Please CLICK HERE if you do not live in the U.S.

Daylight saving time is also called summer time or daylight savings time. When DST is not observed, it is called standard time, normal time or winter time.

This list displays a brief (but not complete) overview over which countries and territories that plan to observe DST during second half of 2011. Note that the list might not be final - countries, territories and states sometimes make adjustments that are announced just days or weeks ahead of the change.

This table is sorted by UTC time, in the order the changes occur.
Click on the example links for more details on the clock change.

Also see the page for first half of 2011 or the overview over start and end times for 2011 sorted by country.

More About Daylight Saving Time

• About Daylight Saving Time
• DST in year 2011
• Upcoming Clock Changes
• How Does Daylight Saving Time Work?
• Daylight Savings Time vs Daylight Saving Time
• Spring Forward, Fall Back
• Health Solutions to DST
• The Daylight Saving Time Debate
• History of Daylight Saving

More about Daylight Saving Time

• Upcoming Daylight Saving Time Clock Changes
• Daylight Savings Time vs Daylight Saving Time
• Health Solutions to Swing to Daylight Saving Time
• The Never-ending Daylight Saving Debate

More information

• Time Zone News
• Time Zone Abbreviations
• Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) Explained

Related links

• The World Clock – Current time all over the world
• Personal World Clock
• Meeting Planner
• Time Zone Converter
• Event Time Announcer – Show local times worldwide for your event.

Been a LONG Time Comin'...

A picture of Randy for Sue and Glenn.
SURPRISE! (It's about time, no)?

Good Morning All;Maybe I should begin this blog the same way I began my letter to Casey two days ago...
 ... "First grab a soda, or a water, or a coffee."  hehehe

I have been having a problem lately with getting the [right] words to write with, and to speak- with.
So, there has been NO blog 'til I get this ton of bricks off my shoulders. 
I have been carrying it around for a while now.

That weight finally was lifted Tuesday evening when I told Casey, face to face, that I have emphysema.  Quite probably the latter stages too, because of all the weight I have lost without even trying.
There is now an 8 pound difference between Casey and myself. (At least I still weigh more). hehehe?
One (of a zillion) articles I have read said this: "By the time weight loss occurs in patients with end-stage emphysema, there is often little benefit of currently available medical or nutritional support modalities."

- They did give me some inhalers, (and they're LEGAL)!  hehehe
Still wondering why they would try to treat if...?

With information- good, bad, and ugly- with each sentence, and sometimes with even a single word, came a thought as to how it applied to me.
As I read, my thoughts went back to 2010, and my good old Dr. "X"...
 ... I had asked him (LAST YEAR ALREADY!), why I would wheeze as I lay down at night.
I had already done a bit of research on that, and hadn't liked what I read-
And so, I had to ask.
He promptly took out his stethoscope, & said, "you don't smoke, do you?"  Stupid, stupid question on his part.  (He already knew that I did, as I had spoken to him about trying to quit on more than 4 or 5 occasions).
I replied, "Yes, I do."
He listened to each quadrant of my lungs and simply pronounced them to be "just fine". WTF?
But he only proved again, that my intuition has rarely led me wrong...
He was the one that was SO wrong. (He sure has made a shitload of mistakes with me)?

Know that of course I do not hold him responsible for my smoking; only for his own ignorance of what should have been done, (and without question), just as soon as I had related my own questions and fears.
So, back to Tuesday...
With my news "out", it was time to inform the rest of my children.
I emailed, knowing I would hear back from all 4.
Coward that I am, I added 'the rest of the story' in that note.
Read on...

It is not only the advanced emphysema that I have.
I also have a 6cm 'growth' on my lung.
They have told me that they will "keep an eye" on it; and I will need repeat CT Scans in 3 months to "watch" the damned thing if/as it progresses. 

Perhaps it is a cyst, -perhaps some kind of lost polyp, a cyst, or, even a tumor.
No-one knows yet, at this point.

I still have to take out a ruler, but I think 6cm is roughly half the length of a dollar bill.  It is one of those things that I never cared to know.
All I know is that I didn't ever want to know any of this.   

But shit, when I'd answered the phone that day, my doctor just kept talking and talking and...
 ... And I couldn't tell her I didn't want to hear this (because that's the way I am). 

Casey was sitting not 3 feet away from me!

More, I have been told, (a 'guesstimate'), that even with the best possible scenario(s); I have left in me "A cupla months - a cupla years."  
("Cupla?" Well, that's exactly what it sounded like anyway). hehehe

Not that I asked, but I was told that even quitting now "might" make some short difference in the course of the disease.  A week or a month, given that I have smoked since I was 17.
So there ya have it.
No wait, there's more.
Further to be told had I quit 20 years ago "maybe" this all would have set in ("a little bit"), later...

As I have stated above, I knew I would hear back from all 4 of my daughters.  The only one to reply thus far? Casey herself. (And she's the one that knew)!

Should I be shocked? 
Should I have expected anything different from the rest?
Maybe I am jumping the gun.  &  Perhaps there are already letters en-route to me, no?
As with everything, time will tell all.
Myself, having come so very close to death when I had Roberta, I have had no fear of dying since that morning.  

Before that, (I was  22), "death" was just a chapter in my Psychology book.

Maybe you will reply to my 'news'- 

I already know that I have done this to myself; so no lectures. 

And no pity. Know that I will read anything but pity! 

As with a lecture, I have no room in my heart, no patience in my soul, for that.

Truly I already know that I am not so much to be pitied, but perhaps envied in some odd way. Know that I will go on- As yes, it is possible, - in time you will know that too,. I promise you that.  

(I'll still be here, but I won't be blogging).

And no. There are no transplants for smokers. 

(They must save those for the 'smart' people).
For now I am doing very well,  save for my damned back. 
There is always that.   hehehe

I hope you are all having a grand Halloween weekend!
I have stirred my pot, so I shall close for now.

My love to all.

XOXO
Me

A Prayer- And a Promise.

As most of you know, I am, quite proudly Native American! Next month we celebrate Native American Heritage Month.
I have found this poem to have a very special beauty to me, in a special place in my heart...
My love to all

XOXO
Me

PS
I will post an update very soon. Promise.

Ojibwa Prayer

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
And whose breath gives life to everyone,
Hear me.
I come to you as one of your many children;

I am weak-  I am small-  I need your wisdom and your strength.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever

behold the red and purple sunsets.

Make my hands respect the things you have made,
and make my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may understand what you
have taught my people

and The lessons you have hidden in each leaf
and each rock.
I ask for wisdom and strength,
Not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able
to fight my greatest enemy, myself.

Make me ever ready to come before you with
clean hands and a straight eye,
So as life fades away as a fading sunset,
My spirit may come to you without shame.

 -Author Unknown


It really doesn't matter who composed this prayer.
It's what the prayer means that's important.

Sharing a few letters-

Maybe I should begin this blog the same way I began my letter to Casey yesterday...
 ... First grab a soda or a water or a coffee...

The first letter- with no beating around the proverbial bush.

I have learned that I have emphysema. Probably the latter stages too because of all the weight I have lost. There is now a 8 pound difference between Casey and me. (At least I still weigh more). hehehe?
Oh well.

From one (of a zillion) articles I have read came this...
"By the time weight loss occurs in patients with end-stage emphysema, there is often little benefit of currently available medical or nutritional support modalities."

I already know that I have done this to myself; so no lectures.

Maybe I die next week. Maybe 35 years from now. Who the hell knows?
As you have surely noticed, I have not been blogging much at all.
Just not into sharing anything until Casey is stronger- physically, mentally, and spiritually too -
How is one to be ready and able to deal with her own mama leaving her?
She is not yet ready for that.
Then again, I don't think any of us are ever really ready for that kind of news, no matter what...

Greg knows a little, but not enough to really say anything without setting Casey in a G-damned downward tailspin.  I emailed him and told him to bring Casey out here someday when he believes Casey to be strong enough. I think that was about a month or so, ago.

Odd, how I am so damned effing bright -and still I cannot think of one way to tell her without setting her back.
I do not want to be responsible for that. But there may be no way of getting around it either.

But I thought you should know why I may suddenly disappear.

XOXO
Me


What really happened after that first note I wrote is that I have learned an awful lot.

First that I was not only quite flippant, but quite terribly wrong when I had written the following: "Maybe I die next week. Maybe 35 years from now. Who the hell knows."

As I know now- the very best possible scenario is if I'd quit smoking ten or twenty years ago that I might still have 5 good years left.
Such is/was not the case- "Coupla months, maybe a coupla years."

Casey and I had a terrible row last week-
I was wrong. She was wrong- (and that never adds up to anything good).

At any rate, about 3 years ago I had bought her and Greg a 2nd hand  La-Z-boy recliner couch. It was in great shape too! (Almost purrfect, 'til the darn cat sharpened his claws on it).
They finally agreed to come to get it on Tuesday evening. Friend Jesse Jasch having a friend with a covered trailer helped a lot!

As Casey went upstairs to gather a few more things, I pulled her aside, and I told her.
Finally.
Having NO idea what to say, or how to say it, I just blurted everything out.

So, with my news "out", it was time to inform the rest of my children.
I knew I would hear back from all 4.
What follows now are parts of a letter I sent to each of them, including Casey, yesterday.
_____________________________________

First, grab a soda or a water or a coffee...

I love you Baby Girl; I am sending all the info that I have collected since Summer, to your email; but just thought I would send as a text too so you know this is there for you...
And to all of your sisters as well-

Dear Casey;
You now know my "secret".
But there IS a difference, that this time it was from my heart, my soul and my lips.

My secret-
The one where only last weekend you accused me "Mom, it just seems like you are just giving up"
But you were wrong. Mama never gives up...

Still, it was at that point that I knew YOU already knew. (Your text from last night only solidified that intuition for me).
Mama knows.
But you already know that anyway. hehehe

As promised, I am just sending you just a few things/links/thoughts/facts from my collective files.

And yes, I do have more to tell you regarding it all-
It is not only the advanced emphysema that I have.
I also have a 6cm 'growth' on my lung!
They have told me that they will "keep an eye" on it; and I will need repeat CT Scans to "watch" the damned thing as it progresses.
*Perhaps it is a cyst, -perhaps some kind of polyp?- a cyst, -or, yes, even a tumor.
No-one knows.

I have yet to take out a ruler, but I think 6cm is roughly half the length of a dollar bill.
It is one of those things that I never cared to know.
All I know is that I didn't ever want to know any of this.
But shit, she just kept talking...
 ... And I couldn't tell her I didn't want to hear this, because you were sitting right here in my own La-Z-boy; not 3 feet away from me when the call had come!

Further, I have been told, that even with the best possible scenario(s); I have less than 5 years to live on/of this Earth.
Know that I will go on- (As yes, it is possible!; in time you will know/see that. (I promise to try anyway).

As you would already know, (just because you gave of your time to know me so well); I have already done SO much thinking and researching these past few months.
More on the thinking end as I read SO very much...

With information- good, bad, and ugly- with each sentence, and sometimes with even a single word, came a thought as to how it applied to me.

As I read, my thoughts went back to 2010, and my good old Dr. "X"...
 ... I had asked him (LAST YEAR ALREADY!), why I would wheeze as I lay down at night.
I had already done a bit of research on that, and hadn't liked what I read-
And so, I had to ask.
He promptly took out his stethoscope, & said, "you don't smoke, do you?"
Stupid question on his part- (He already knew that I did, as I had spoken to him about trying to quit on more than 4 or 5 occasions).
I replied, "Yes, I do."
He listened to each quadrant of my lungs and simply pronounced them to be "just fine".
Perhaps he had assumed for me to be a hypochondriac-

But he only proved again, that my intuition has rarely led me wrong...
He was the one that was SO wrong. (He sure has made a shitload of mistakes with me, eh)?

Know that of course I do not hold him responsible for my smoking; only for his own ignorance of what should have been done, and without question, just as soon as I had related my own questions and fears.

Silly me, by the time I was 30, I had learned much about the dangers of smoking. And still, i could not quit.
I have tried- and oh, how many times, during the course of this lifetime to stop.
Oh well. I never succeeded.

I'd best shut up and close for now so you can get on with your own reading... hehehe

More.         

XOXO
Mama D.
_____________________________________

Did you get through it all?
As I have already said, I knew I would hear back from all 4 of my daughters. 
The only one to reply thus far? Casey herself.
Should I be shocked?
Should I have expected anything different from the rest of them?
Maybe I am jumping the gun.
   Perhaps there are already letters en-route to me?
Or once again am I expecting too much from the 'mature' adults that I raised?

Maybe you will want to reply to my 'news'- Maybe not.
I will read anything but pity.
I have no room in my heart, no patience in my soul, for that.
I am not to pitied. Perhaps envied in a little way.

For now I am doing well, save for my damned back.
There is always that.

My love to all

XOXO
Me


.

In Praise of Karma

Good Morning All;
Karma is generally uniquely defined as 'what comes around, goes around.' (True definition below).

I am so happy to report that sometimes to our disapproval, karma takes its good old~fashioned time getting around.
Sometimes it doesn't happen until we are gone. Sometimes it never does.

Randall Staevens was sentenced to life plus 36.5 years in prison Wednesday for killing his wife and trying to burn down her house with three of their children inside. (Click on 'murder' in my tags if you are unfamiliar with this case- too close for comfort). The best quote came from the judge. "Mr. Staeven, the offenses that you have been found guilty of in this matter are some of the most grave, malicious, hatefully and shockingly heinous that has ever been in this court"

Personally I am thrilled beyond words. A part of my spirit is not only relieved, but comforted- knowing that "LIFE + 36 Years" means something good for those of us who knew this piece~of~shit person; and especially for his children- (Any children who may have been around him, or somehow affected by him).

Not too much other news-

Hope all is well in your corners of the world!

My love to all.

XOXO
Me

Staevens picture from here

Karma [ˈkɑːmə]n

1. (Non-Christian Religions / Hinduism) Hinduism Buddhism the principle of retributive justice determining a person's state of life and the state of his reincarnations as the effect of his past deeds

2. (Christian Religious Writings / Theology) Theosophy the doctrine of inevitable consequence

3. destiny or fate

People For the American Way: DumpDOMA.com

http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dump_doma&autologin=true
Just a signature, and a minute of your time...

Tell the President and Congress:
It's time to repeal DOMA.

It’s time for the federal government to stop punishing same-sex couples. It’s time to repeal DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act).

It’s becoming clear that the walls excluding LGBT Americans from equality under the law are coming tumbling down. The Judges and state legislatures who have come down on the side of equality are doing their jobs -- now Congress and the President need to do theirs. Take action now to make sure that President Obama and Congress eliminate DOMA.

Dear President Obama and Congressional Leaders:

It's time to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). At this moment of change and progress, it's time to undo a serious mistake made by Congress 14 years ago. The federal government has no business discriminating against loving families by selectively withholding the roughly 1,300 legal protections that only legal civil marriage affords.

It's time for the President to fulfill his promise to the American people to eliminate DOMA. And it's time for Congress to show leadership on this issue and send him long overdue legislation to repeal this relic of hatred.

Get To Know Mitt Romney

http://www.democrats.org/which-mitt
Click the link.

From my email...

The Mitt Romney who's running for the Republican presidential nomination has said he would sign legislation to end Medicare as we know it, slash Social Security, and repeal health care reform as one of his first acts in office.

But over the years, Mitt Romney has supported expanding access to health care, protecting a woman's right to choose, and investing in infrastructure -- just like the kind in the Recovery Act that brought us back from the brink of a depression.

It's one thing for a politician's positions to evolve over time. It's another to flip back and forth over the course of a 20-year political career based on what office you're running for and where.

And that's exactly what Romney has shown: He has no core convictions or values. With him, it's all just politics.

It makes you wonder -- which Mitt would we get in the White House?

And which Mitt would we be relying on to make decisions on behalf of millions of Americans, during a crisis, or as commander in chief?

So we took a hard look at his record, everywhere he's stood on the issues, and put it all together in the form of a new site, WhichMitt.com.

We can't predict exactly how Mitt would govern as president, but you can take the quiz to test how well you know his track record to get an idea -- and perhaps learn a little more about the man some are calling the Republican front-runner.

Which Mitt do you know?

The answer may surprise you:

http://www.WhichMitt.com

Thanks,

Brad

Brad Woodhouse
Communications Director
Democratic National Committee

P.S. -- After you check out the quiz, pass this note on to your friends and family, and challenge them to beat your score.

picture from politicalhumor.about.com