A N T I C I P A T I O N .........

This coming Fri, the Rooster and I are going to load up my beast, and start the first leg of our journey towards our first ever cruise. Everyone we talk to who has had this adventure say we are going to love it! I sure hope so. We have been semi reluctant because the Rooster gets seasick easily, but we have been told repeatedly that we will barely feel the ship move.
We are going to the Bahamas....Freeport and Nassau. We have picked our excursions already ( they are going to cost us as much as the fare for the cruise), and we have lots of advice on what to avoid and what is "don't miss this!". Thanks to everyone for their input.
One of the excursions is a 2 hour jeep tour. I dreamed the other night that Kenny was reluctant to drive because they drive on the "wrong side" of the road there. I'm not sure it even occured to him that the steering wheel is also on the "wrong side" of the vehicle. In my dream, I was telling him that I wanted him to have the experience, because I already knew what it was like to drive a vehicle like that. My ex ( thank You, God, for the ex part) and I bought a Fairlady Z in Spain. Sexy car with a nose as long as Pinocchio's when he was lying. Driving that car took some practice, you found out real quick how much weaker you are on your left side when you had to learn how to shift a five speed with your left hand. AND you shifted everything towards you, instead of away. It got VERY interesting when we had to get that thing to turn a corner in Toledo.....uphill, streets built for burro carts, behind you rock walls, and on the other side of those walls, a horrendous drop off the mountain. The nose of the car was too long to just turn the corner, so, in a fifteen point turn it was, brake, clutch, gas, brake, clutch, gas......with finesse we didn't know we had!!
They drive on the right side in Spain, so we didn't have that aspect of the adventure, but it was great fun to watch people when they realized the person driving was on the right side of the car. Even more fun was putting the dog on the left side and rolling the window down so she could stick her head out the window!!
We were able to bring that car back to the states because it had been registered in the US before the emission control rules were put into effect. Then, we had the fun of going through toll booths, wehad to learn how to toss the money in the basket over the roof of the car. We had to shout even louder to order from the drive through, and then get out of the car to pay and pick up the food.
Yes, we got stopped by the cops one time. Unspoken, he and I agreed to push the envelope and see how long it was before the cop realized that I wasn't driving. I handed him my license and registration ( got that out of the glove box in front of me, and he didn't even notice it then !) He went back to his vehicle to check all that out, and when he walked back to hand it all back to me is when it dawned on him that I didn't have a steering wheel in front of me. He got THAT look on his face, bent down to look at the ex, who DID have a steering wheel in front of him, scowled for a second, the grinned and said "good one." We busted out laughing then, which was a good thing, cuz I think we would have exploded, otherwise. He handed my license and registratioin back to me and said, "All right, you get this one, get out of here. " I think we made his day. Glad he had a sense of humor, or we could have been in real trouble.
I got to drive that car for 4 years before it became decrepit enough that we were afraid it was a hazard to our well being. So, I want the Rooster to have the fun I had. I will take over if it freaks him out, but I don't really think it will. He's pretty good about being up for getting his horizons broadened, and having a ball at it.
We are also going to do a shallow water snorkle jaunt. Shallow because the rooster thinks he can't swim. He had one of those &$(#$@ uncles who threw him in the water to teach him how to swim. I told him a long time ago that I hoped I never met the man, because there would be an explosion if I did. So, Rooster is very unsure of himself in the water. Because I am a water baby, he has grown to love being in the water as long as he can put his feet down and stand up. BUT, he has also taught himself how to swim better. Better than he thinks he can. I'll watch him, and he'll be swimming along, doing just great, and then all of a sudden he loses it somehow and flounders a little, then stands up. I taught him how to use a snorkle so that maybe he would start putting his face in the water, and he has done that well, as well. The shallow water excursion shows pictures of rays and other creatures of the sea, so we hope it is representative of what we really will see. I'm so very proud of him for teaching himself what he has, and being brave enough to try new things. I feel, and hope some of his willingness to try has been because he loves me, and wants to share my joys with me.
On the way back home, we are stopping in Orlando to go to Universal's Islands of Adventure. Actually, we will be going to both parks, but, the important one is Islands, because of the new Harry Potter area, AND because he's been challenged. We aren't roller coaster people. Neither is his son. We have been experimenting gradually with pushing our barf limits ( or maybe at our ages, our heart attack limits). We have always loved Space Mountain at Disney, and now the Rocking Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios (also Disney). Just in the last year, we have done the Tower of Terror at Hollywood studios....that's not one I thought I would ever do, cuz it's the drops that get to me. Turn me upside down, take me around in a circle, and I'm good. I have nearly passed out on the first hill of some roller coasters. There is this thing called a vagal response....it's why Elvis died when he did, and so many people die in the bathroom.It's probably also why many women died during childbirth. You clamp, bear down, and you pass out because your heart slows its rate and your brain doesn't get enough blood. I learned to scream instead. You can't clamp down when you are screaming. Anyway, Rooster's son rode the Incredible Hulk at Adventures and has challenged his Dad to do the same. And being the good rednecked Rooster that he is, his testosterone level won't let him let his son show him up. His insurance is paid in full and I have let him know that I very likely won't be doing this with him. My level of testosterone has nothing to prove to anybody. People HAVE died on the ride. Heart attacks.
As of today, I have 2 more work days to live through, Rooster has 4 and a half. Then, it's "On the road again...." Can hardly wait. Will let you all know if I come back married, or widowed. If it's the latter, send money, not flowers..........

Mo Betta

Tired? Achey? Quickly deteriorating memory? Libido nonexistant? Gaining weight? Want something other than old age to blame this on? Getcher thyroid levels checked!! I work 12 hour night shifts. 4 nights on, 1 off, 2 on, then I get 7 days off.... mini vacation every 2 weeks. Sweet, right? Yes, very much so, until I found myself not recovering from my work stretch until just 2 days before I went back to work. What a waste!! Especially with summer coming up, and access to a river, 2 pools, RV park with good friends to enjoy my life with. This nonrecovery manifested itself much more dramatically than you would expect with the normal aging process. I was also getting extremely cranky and intolerant, which is not a good thing when you are in charge of a bunch of brand new nurses who are in a delicate self-confidence balance to begin with. I started to get a little scared. My Dad's side of the family has a high Alzheimer's count. One uncle, one aunt diagnosed, and I'm sure my grandfather was afflicted, just not diagnosed. He would go out for a walk and get lost..... My grandmother was diagnosed with ALS, which is a disorder of the nerve cells in the brain and spine, which affects the voluntary movement, and eventually, the involuntary as well. Can't swallow, can't move, and end stage, can't breath on your own. A frightening prison to be in, as your cognitive abilities remain intact for most of this progression. Related? Not sure....but pretty crappy DNA on that side, wouldn't you say? So, when I began to notice that from the recliner to the kitchen ( all of 6 steps), I was forgetting what I got up for, when I got in the shower twice in one week with my glasses on, when I walked out the locked front door without my keys two days in a row, I got scared!!! I began to make a list of all the physical complaints I had accumulated, and went to my doctor. When he walked into the exam room, he stopped short, looked at me and said, "Okay, what disaster brought you in?" Nurses come in 2 types....the ones who go to the doctor with every little twitch, and those who don't go until they are half dead. I fall in the half dead category. I laughed and told him that my list had gotten too long, and handed it to him. Time for colonoscopy, check (argh!), especially since my DNA in that category is also crappy!! Mammo, Pap smear (argh!argh!) check. Follow up chest xray to evaluate the spot they found on the last one that was determined to not be an immediate concern, but follow up was encouraged,check. PFT's to also follow up since 34 years of my life was spent smoking, check. Sinus and allergy diagnostics as my symptoms were increasing in severity, check. Podiatrist for the neuroma I had developed in my right foot, check. Busy girl. Blood drawn that very day...fortunate to have been fasting long enough to count, and to get to the lab before the runner picked up that day. This was on a Friday....Monday I got the call to go pick up my prescription of Levothryroxin, low dose, and to reschedule blood draw and primary MD appt in 2 weeks. Wahoo? Hope!! 2 weeks later, I am feeling better than I have felt in a very long time, I am not in constant achey pain, my memory has improved, I'm not as cranky, and my husband is very cute again!! So easy. Another pill to swallow...yeah, but the benefits are enormous!! You gettin old? Yeah, so what? You don't have to feel or act old if you can get as easy a fix as I did!

Long time gone

Many moons. Have been inspired by a new blogger to come home and start again. Comment from new blogger was that he didn't know how many would be interested in anything he had to say. Don't we all feel that way to some extent? Wait.....no, I take that back, for I DO know people who think what they have to say is the only thing that keeps this ball on it's axis. Sometimes, sad to say, I could very well be one of those. I can get on a rant with the best of us. But, I DO SO love an intelligent, mature give and take of ideas, as long as I am not being bullied by someone who thinks they are the only one who has the answers. What a small world to live in. The world I live in has daily moral conundrums to explore, and the number of solutions to those can equal the stars in the universe, but sometimes seem like "no brainers" with only one, to those of us who live in this world. What we need to remember , is that few see the world we see, few see the results of what we consider to be poor choices that we know, and that many make their decisions out of pure selfishness, whether based in misguided love, or malicious self interest for it's own sake. Living with powerlessness over these situations, can make me , oh,so tired and sad, and I wonder why......why? Is it because people don't believe there is anything beyond this existence? Is greed that deepset in some people's psyche? Is a fear of being alone so terrifying as to be unbearable? I thank the combination of my DNA, my upbringing and my logic that tells me this isn't "all there is". I completely believe there is an existence beyond this life that is more glorious that we can fathom. I believe that the ones I grieve for are there, and will greet me when I make my transformation. I believe that there will be much more for me to learn when I get there, many more ideas for me to explore, and that the answers to all my questions will be there for my understanding. This belief is sometimes the only thing that keeps me plodding along, every day, like the poor working slob I am. It's the thing that keeps me from giving up when things just don't make any sense. I feel incredibly sorry for those who don't have this belief, for what is life without any hope? I thank my parents, my ability to sense what I believe to be true, and daily proof in even the smallest of things to provide me with the hope I need to make this all worth it. I also am grateful for the ability to revel in the beauty, love, gifts and security that I enjoy while I am still here....my blessings are many. Not that anyone would be interested........