My cousin-in-law Julie in her post said she can crave protein. I can relate. I love steak – medium rare, with nothing on it – no salt, no sauce, nothing to mask the meaty flavor of beef. Just a juicy thick piece of steak for the whole meal, Yummy! đ
Last week, I was at Kaiser Medical Center for an appointment with my endocrinologist.
Since Elliot was born in 1988, I was diagnosed with goiter – an enlarged thyroid. I have a standing appointment to have it checked twice a year. An ultrasound and blood work is done once a year. At every check up so far, nothing has changed, which is a good thing. The function of my thyroid is normal. The size of it is about 2-3 times larger than normal. If you look at my neck, you will not notice any bulge unless there is someone my size standing next to me for comparison.
What we do not want to see are nodules which would indicate potential cancer. There are several minute nodules which have not grown in size and I am told they are too small to be of concern. If they start to enlarge, the cloctor said he would be able to feel them. So I see him for five minutes twice a year for him to feel my neck to check if those nodules have gotten bigger. As I said, so far so good, praise God.
I haven’t had time to gather my thoughts on the many good things that has gone on since my last post. I will just describe them briefly here:
3/11 Went to California Adventures with my husband and 3 children. It was a GREAT time. We have so much fun together. If I can choose whateverâŠ
Amy saw a little dog on the way to school this morning. “Oh, it’s soooo CUTE!”
You know how girls always say that!
Then Amy asks, “I wonder what makes something cute?”
I replied with another question, “Are there characteristics that everyone in the world would consider ‘cute’? Are short, small, fuzzy puppies universally considered cute?”
What do you think?
Then later on that day, I had another experience that made me think of that conversation with Amy.
I was at Kaiser hospital for a doctor’s appointment (more on this later). There was a little girl probably about 3 years old running around. She had curly brown hair, a face full of laughter, a chubby finger pointing to various objects she saw, and saying, “Mama, dada.” My immediate thought was one of delight, “Oh, how cute!” I watched her for a while.
At the same moment, an old lady with her walker, hair short and gray, face wrinkled, back hunched over, moved ever so slowly across my path. Would anyone give her a second look? I smiled at her, but she did not see me. Her eyes were on the ground in front of her, careful not to miss her step.
We’ve all been there. We’ve been that child that received positive attention.
We’ll be there too, as an old person who will be overlooked. Cute? No. But we hope we will at least be smiled at.
I decided I need to exercise. So this morning, after dropping Amy off at school, I walked.This was a momentous occasion for me because I don’t normally exercise, nor do I like to walk by myself.
It was such a great time that I have to blog about it.
What I enjoyed about the walk:
Feeling the cool breeze on my face
Criticizing the colors of houses
Being amazed at the BLUE sky
Praying for people as they come to my mind
Thinking about nothing in particular
Gaining a sense of satisfaction of feeling tired
I walked 35 minutes with what I considered an average pace, not powerwalk. When I got back to my car, I drove the course to find that it was 1.8 miles. Not bad for my first time.
Like many tasks in life,
The hardest part of all it seems to just to get a start.
I’m sure of all we have to do this is the toughest part.
(That came from a poem I memorized in 4th grade. I don’t remember the rest.)
I am motivated to do it again.
While having lunch with a friend, my cell phone rings. It was the escrow company telling me that one of my transactions that was suppose to close today requires a couple more documents. They have one hour to take care of it, or closing will be delayed till tomorrow.
After I got off the phone, my friend says, “Should we stop and pray about it?”
It is good to know that I can give God my worries, anytime, anywhere. I don’t have to carry life’s burden’s alone.
Cast all your cares on Him, for He careth for you. I Peter 5:7
Staples couponOriginally uploaded by miketklee.
This is a rather interesting incident:
I ordered a set of tab dividers from the local Staples because they didn’t have it in stock. It was suppose to be delivered to the store the next day. They will call me when it comes in.
So I called Verizon online services:
“I am not getting any internet connection.”
“What version of Windows do you have?
“I don’t know.”
“Do you see the Start button on the lower left corner of your screen?”
“Duh, yeah.”
“What color is it?”
“Green.”
“OK, you have Windows XP, the latest version.”
“Oh, that’s good to know.”
“Do you see your modem?”
“Sure, yeah.”
“Which lights are on and which lights are not on?”
“OMG! None of the lights are on!”
“Is the power light on?”
“OK, I get it.”
“Trace the line to the plug and make sure it’s plugged in.”
“OK. I GOT IT!”
That was stupid, wasn’t it???
The guy was really nice. He must have been trained to deal with people like me.
I don’t want to touch any new machines unless I have to.
Today, I had to learn how to use the scanner. Usually I ask Mike or my kids to do it for me when I need to scan something. Today I had to scan 15 pages, and didn’t want to bother them with it.
Now I feel so enpowered, so independent! I do not have to depend on anyone ever again…for scanning at least.
Everyone should learn new skills, any skill. You never know when you need to use it, and you wouldn’t have to ask for help.
One way to give the gift of time is calling someone on the phone. If you don’t have time to drive somewhere and meet someone, calling them on the phone is a great gift of time.
Isn’t it nice when a friend calls you just to say hi? There is no agenda, no motive, simply a call to keep your friendship alive.
Email is ok, but a phone call is definitely more personal. And it is a gift of time.