I went to the Rheumy-doc today. I think my Rheumy-doc is the most wonderful ever, so it was a pleasure to see him anyway. Having the good report from my bone scan today was just the icing on the cake.
My RA is pretty well under control, and so is the fibromyalgia. I attribute both facts to the clinical expertise of my excellent Rheumy-doc!! He is in practice with his lovely wife, and they have two gorgeous daughters.
He is a "happy-camper" who sings to himself as he writes in the patient charts, as he examines the patients, as he walks from room to room. He is cheerful and upbeat keeping the patients who have these awful rheumatic and autoimmune diseases upbeat themselves. It is really great to go to a good doctor who is also happy and pleased with what he is doing. No matter how bad I am feeling when I go to him, I leave with a smile on my face.
The cost of drugs is not his fault, and he works to keep his patients' costs down by prescribing the lowest cost medications he possibly can. He doesn't think the insurance industry has any business telling us where to get our prescriptions filled or who to get our medical care from. He is one of many voices in the wilderness. He speaks up in medical meetings along with many others who only want to provide excellent care to their patients at reasonable cost and medications that are effective and reasonably priced. He and his colleagues are very frustrated with the current situation.
In the meantime, he happily takes care of his patients, singing to them and to himself as he walks from room to room, rendering care, making diagnoses and documenting in their charts.
May all MDs be as competent, caring and happy in their practices as he is.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
A Time to Reflect
I decided that today is a good time to reflect on some things. It was also a good time to change colors. The pink was nice, but it wasn't "me."
First, I'm very, VERY proud of my daughter. She has a line of products that are starting to take off and sell, she is generously promoting the products of other people, and now, touched by the tragedy which has happened to another member of Etsy, she has dedicated the profits from several of her products to this family. She is an incredibly generous person.
Second, I very, VERY much love my family. No reasons. Just love them. Warts and all. They are wonderful.
Third, This country ouf ours is truly special. We are blessed to be living in it. We have the liberty, the freedom, to come and go, to believe or not believe, to do or not do. It is hard for us to understand that people in other countries don't have these same liberties. Hard for us to understand that people in other countries cannot live our same lives. It is very important for us to protect it. Not to protect its ability to dole out "bread and circuses" to people who can't or won't work for their own bread, but to protect its ability to make it possibly for us to make our own ways.
Fourth, most of all, on this earth I love my ol' curmudgeon. I love him down to my bone marrow. Can't comprehend life without him. Don't want to try to comprehend life without him, much less live life without him. We live our withdrawn, Hobbit-like existence, and it suits us.
Finally, I am so grateful to God for all that he has given to us. I think that all too frequently we forget, in the hustle and bustle of everyday, when we are in the throes of political this and that, we forget that we are NOT in control of all this. God ultimately is in control. We may think we are, but we are not. So I refer all to the Akathist Glory to God for All Things as a reminder of what is truly important in life!
First, I'm very, VERY proud of my daughter. She has a line of products that are starting to take off and sell, she is generously promoting the products of other people, and now, touched by the tragedy which has happened to another member of Etsy, she has dedicated the profits from several of her products to this family. She is an incredibly generous person.
Second, I very, VERY much love my family. No reasons. Just love them. Warts and all. They are wonderful.
Third, This country ouf ours is truly special. We are blessed to be living in it. We have the liberty, the freedom, to come and go, to believe or not believe, to do or not do. It is hard for us to understand that people in other countries don't have these same liberties. Hard for us to understand that people in other countries cannot live our same lives. It is very important for us to protect it. Not to protect its ability to dole out "bread and circuses" to people who can't or won't work for their own bread, but to protect its ability to make it possibly for us to make our own ways.
Fourth, most of all, on this earth I love my ol' curmudgeon. I love him down to my bone marrow. Can't comprehend life without him. Don't want to try to comprehend life without him, much less live life without him. We live our withdrawn, Hobbit-like existence, and it suits us.
Finally, I am so grateful to God for all that he has given to us. I think that all too frequently we forget, in the hustle and bustle of everyday, when we are in the throes of political this and that, we forget that we are NOT in control of all this. God ultimately is in control. We may think we are, but we are not. So I refer all to the Akathist Glory to God for All Things as a reminder of what is truly important in life!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tag! You're It!!
I'm tagging SEWphisticate, Riverdaughter, and Nepsis (You Know Who You Are!!)
What if you had a $100 gift card to the music store of your choice, what would you buy??
Now, no matter where I go, I figger I can only get 5-6 CDs for $100 - right?
So I had to really work to limit myself to 6 CDs when I wandered over to Liturgica.com's Orthodox Liturgics section!!
______________________________________________________________
Total = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = $93.92
Hope my shipping wouldn't be over $6.00!!
What if you had a $100 gift card to the music store of your choice, what would you buy??
Now, no matter where I go, I figger I can only get 5-6 CDs for $100 - right?
So I had to really work to limit myself to 6 CDs when I wandered over to Liturgica.com's Orthodox Liturgics section!!
| AJ053 | With The Voice of the Archangel Russian - Orthodox Liturgical Solos, Duets & Trios | 17.00 |
| AJ046 | Akathist of Thanksgiving Russian - St. Ignatius Mission Choir | 14.98 |
| AL006 | Good Friday - Bulgarian Orthodox Liturgy Bulgarian - M. Popsavov, Mixed Choir | 15.99 |
| AL002 | Ancient Slavonic Chant Bulgarian - Angeloglassny Vocal Ensemble | 17.99 |
| AC001 | Chants of the Roman Church-Byzantine Period Old Roman - Peres, Ensemble Organum | 7.98 |
| | AJ062 | Hymns and Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church Russian - Choir of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, London with Nicolai Gedda | 19.98 |
______________________________________________________________
Total = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = $93.92
Hope my shipping wouldn't be over $6.00!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Chinese Take Me Out Box Purse
Isn't this just the cutest little evening purse you've ever seen in your life!!!??? It absolutely screams "Take me with you!!"Genevieve has been playing with origami and folding things and designing things since she was a little. One time I remember she looked at a Chinese take-out box and said something about wouldn't it make a cute little purse. We tried to get the smell of the shrimp out of it, but it didn't work, so we gave up,
Obviously she never forgot about that idea! I would never have believed it back then, but look what came of it!!
There are more views of this at her Etsy Shop, and many other items she currently has. The items seem to change almost daily, so visit often!
Monday, February 11, 2008
I've Done This Before . . .
. . . but it's fun, so I did it again:
 | My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Excellency Elizabeth the Excited of Lesser Cheese Winston Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Sisters
Risa posted a poem of mine on her blog out on the Left Coast. ;)
I was both childishly delighted and humbled to read how she regards me as her lately discovered sister. Interestingly, I felt the same thing as she, but was having difficulty expressing it.
I had a half-sister growing up. We saw each other too seldom to develop much of a bond. I have no clue how she perceived me. I saw her as my father's princess and favored child - his "real" daughter, as it were. No, I wasn't a bastard, but I was one of those children of divorce from the 40's who felt fractured and "partial" most of their lives. Unworthy. I attribute all the achievements of my life to my feelings of unworthiness. Somehow I needed to make myself appear worthy, I needed to be worthy. Thus the BS, the MS, the PhD. My father did not live to see me graduate with my PhD. Neither did my mother, my grandmother, my stepmother, my mother-in-law or father-in-law. Only my husband and children. Maybe that's all who really mattered. I don't know. I do know that ceremony felt a bit "hollow" without any of my parents or in-laws there to see my achievement. It had been a long time coming, and I felt a bit bereft that the members of the generation previous most close to me weren't there to share it with me.
Then, a few months ago, someone came into my life through my husband, who has become a sister and more. Oh we are different! We have totally different "takes" on religion. She is Quaker, and I am an Orthodox Christian. She is a Liberal. I am a Conservative. She is an Environmentalist. I'm not. She's an activist. I'm not. But we share so much. A love of good food, of good bread, in particular. A love of books - the sensual feel of good bindings, the joy of reading - and many of the same authors! A love of the motion picture art - many of the same and many different. She is shy-er than I am. I'm afraid I galumphed into her life with all the overwhelmingly unbridled enthusiasm of a Labrador Retriever. Kinda bowled her over and refused to give her time to decide if she liked or disliked me - she HAD to like me! I do that from time to time. Because there is that "something" that is between us, that we recognized immediately both from our correspondence and from our blogging. Risa blogs intensively as she is a writer, a poet and a librarian. I blog desultorily (as any reader of my blogs knows). But we know each other jointly through the Ol' Curmudgeon. They were friends as children, almost a different lifetime ago.
Now, I find that I didn't knock her over with my [figuratively] wagging tail! And she has become the sister I have always wanted.
I was both childishly delighted and humbled to read how she regards me as her lately discovered sister. Interestingly, I felt the same thing as she, but was having difficulty expressing it.
I had a half-sister growing up. We saw each other too seldom to develop much of a bond. I have no clue how she perceived me. I saw her as my father's princess and favored child - his "real" daughter, as it were. No, I wasn't a bastard, but I was one of those children of divorce from the 40's who felt fractured and "partial" most of their lives. Unworthy. I attribute all the achievements of my life to my feelings of unworthiness. Somehow I needed to make myself appear worthy, I needed to be worthy. Thus the BS, the MS, the PhD. My father did not live to see me graduate with my PhD. Neither did my mother, my grandmother, my stepmother, my mother-in-law or father-in-law. Only my husband and children. Maybe that's all who really mattered. I don't know. I do know that ceremony felt a bit "hollow" without any of my parents or in-laws there to see my achievement. It had been a long time coming, and I felt a bit bereft that the members of the generation previous most close to me weren't there to share it with me.
Then, a few months ago, someone came into my life through my husband, who has become a sister and more. Oh we are different! We have totally different "takes" on religion. She is Quaker, and I am an Orthodox Christian. She is a Liberal. I am a Conservative. She is an Environmentalist. I'm not. She's an activist. I'm not. But we share so much. A love of good food, of good bread, in particular. A love of books - the sensual feel of good bindings, the joy of reading - and many of the same authors! A love of the motion picture art - many of the same and many different. She is shy-er than I am. I'm afraid I galumphed into her life with all the overwhelmingly unbridled enthusiasm of a Labrador Retriever. Kinda bowled her over and refused to give her time to decide if she liked or disliked me - she HAD to like me! I do that from time to time. Because there is that "something" that is between us, that we recognized immediately both from our correspondence and from our blogging. Risa blogs intensively as she is a writer, a poet and a librarian. I blog desultorily (as any reader of my blogs knows). But we know each other jointly through the Ol' Curmudgeon. They were friends as children, almost a different lifetime ago.
Now, I find that I didn't knock her over with my [figuratively] wagging tail! And she has become the sister I have always wanted.
Time for a ~~Whine~~??
This past week has been a study in frustration - The Ol' Curmudgeon out of town, tooth abscessed, daughter had to take me to go get it removed urgently, bring me home after surgery, then go back out for prescriptions for me.
One of the prescriptions led to some major side effects that didn't show up until over the weekend, so couldn't get them taken care of effectively. I'll have to wait until Monday and call dentist and doctor to get 2 Rxs to cover the side effects of the Rx that caused the side effects to begin with.
SIGH!
This throws me 5 cases behind in my work!
Have I complained ~~whined~~ enough, yet?!
One of the prescriptions led to some major side effects that didn't show up until over the weekend, so couldn't get them taken care of effectively. I'll have to wait until Monday and call dentist and doctor to get 2 Rxs to cover the side effects of the Rx that caused the side effects to begin with.
SIGH!
This throws me 5 cases behind in my work!
Have I complained ~~whined~~ enough, yet?!
Monday, February 04, 2008
What's in a Name?
Sewphisticate at gLp Designs blogged the other day about "What's in a Name?"
It got me to thinking about that. I am named severally! My first name is a very traditional name for women in my family - it is old, beautiful and Biblical. My mother, her mother, and several cousins and aunts all with the same name - and all used the various diminutives of it!!!
My middle name was my grandfather's first name - a typical Southern USA thing, to give a girl her father or grandfather's name as her middle name - and then call her by that name1! As it happens, however, my mother's favorite book character was The Little Colonel! So I guess, in a way, I was named after her: Elizabeth Lloyd! And called Lloyd until I was 15 when I finally rebelled and insisted on a new nickname. I became "Windy" - and it was most appropriate, believe me! "Who's coming down the streets of the city? Wearing a dress that is lighter than air? ... Everyone knows that it's Windy!" Yeah! That's who I was - and still am!
Professionally, I'm Elizabeth.
Socially, I'm either Elizabeth or Windy.
Husband says he always knows what "era" of my life people knew me by what they call me - Lloyd, Windy, Elizabeth or Dr. Elizabeth!
What's in a name? Depends on when and what you want!
It got me to thinking about that. I am named severally! My first name is a very traditional name for women in my family - it is old, beautiful and Biblical. My mother, her mother, and several cousins and aunts all with the same name - and all used the various diminutives of it!!!
My middle name was my grandfather's first name - a typical Southern USA thing, to give a girl her father or grandfather's name as her middle name - and then call her by that name1! As it happens, however, my mother's favorite book character was The Little Colonel! So I guess, in a way, I was named after her: Elizabeth Lloyd! And called Lloyd until I was 15 when I finally rebelled and insisted on a new nickname. I became "Windy" - and it was most appropriate, believe me! "Who's coming down the streets of the city? Wearing a dress that is lighter than air? ... Everyone knows that it's Windy!" Yeah! That's who I was - and still am!
Professionally, I'm Elizabeth.
Socially, I'm either Elizabeth or Windy.
Husband says he always knows what "era" of my life people knew me by what they call me - Lloyd, Windy, Elizabeth or Dr. Elizabeth!
What's in a name? Depends on when and what you want!
Time for a Change!
Since the daughter-person has a wonderful new blog here on Blogger, I thought it was time for a major overhaul of this space! She won't be happy since I chose a pink template, and I'll change it if I can find one the **right** shade of TEAL-BLUE-GREEN :-)
Right now, I'm a "travel-widow," because the Ol' Curmudgeon is traveling. Drat it, anyway! I just HATE it when he's on the road! I particularly hate it when I am under the weather and he's not here to ~~whine~~ at. I have a bad tooth - it will come out next week - and I am NOT a happy camper. I'm on codeine and antibiotics. And I'm miserable, and hurt and - and - and - :-P - BLEAH! The only thing I could think of to eat tonight was Krystal hamburgers (kinda like White Castles), so the son-next-door kindly drove out and brought me some. Even those soft things were almost too much for me to chew. Better stock in some chicken soup, and make some Fluffy Tapioca Pudding for the days ahead.
BLEAH and again I say BLEAH!!
At least the Ol' Curmudgeon will be back Friday - and I can cry and ~~whine~~ at him, and he can take me to surgery on Monday and bring me home and wait one me and grumble at me and the cat will jump on me and purr in my face and all will be RIGHT in my world again!
Right now, I'm a "travel-widow," because the Ol' Curmudgeon is traveling. Drat it, anyway! I just HATE it when he's on the road! I particularly hate it when I am under the weather and he's not here to ~~whine~~ at. I have a bad tooth - it will come out next week - and I am NOT a happy camper. I'm on codeine and antibiotics. And I'm miserable, and hurt and - and - and - :-P - BLEAH! The only thing I could think of to eat tonight was Krystal hamburgers (kinda like White Castles), so the son-next-door kindly drove out and brought me some. Even those soft things were almost too much for me to chew. Better stock in some chicken soup, and make some Fluffy Tapioca Pudding for the days ahead.
BLEAH and again I say BLEAH!!
At least the Ol' Curmudgeon will be back Friday - and I can cry and ~~whine~~ at him, and he can take me to surgery on Monday and bring me home and wait one me and grumble at me and the cat will jump on me and purr in my face and all will be RIGHT in my world again!
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