Never Underestimate the Power of Greeting Cards

And I am totally serious here people!

Of 3 doctors, 2 of whom I see regularly (gyn and GP) are totally willing to call in an rx of antibiotics for my chronic sinus infections without seeing me, since I only call when I am certain I have one (maybe twice a year total). The 3rd doctor is in the same practice as my GP. The two that would call them in without seeing me first are doctors I send Christmas cards to every year. Cheesy? Maybe. Heartfelt? Yes.

You see, for about 3 years we didn't have any health insurance. And lots of medical issues. So they would give me samples to avoid pharmacy full-price expenses, draw blood for tests so I wouldn't have a separate bill for labs, avoided ordering costly tests that I believe they might have done if we had the insurance, etc etc. And not just for me. My whole family. So I am eternally grateful to them for that.

Coincidence? I think not.

And to clarify, my GP was out of town or he would have called in the rx. So I ended up calling my gyn office about some other blood work and figured since I had the nurse on the line, why not ask about the antibiotic? Never hurts to ask, right? And if she said no way, I'd make do without, since neither had an opening for that sort of problem in the foreseeable future.

But in that 3rd doctor's defense, even though I had been seen by another doctor in his practice, I hadn't personally seen him, though I believe that one or both of my kids has. So I get why he wouldn't.

I am content to believe it's because of the Christmas cards though. :D

And thank you for the commiseration on my last post. I beat myself up more than necessary, so I definitely don't need it from some outside force. It all worked out though.

When the Hour is None

I've always liked that phrase for some reason. Maybe because it implies that time can be nothing, or maybe stopped, even for a fraction of a second. Or an hour. I guess an hour.

Just finished reading a fantastic book called My Name is Will by Jess Winfield. Parallel eras. Drugs. Shakespeare. Excellent read. Might want to remove the dust jacket while reading as it does clearly state 'sex, drugs and Shakespeare' on the Bard's forehead right on the cover art.

It seems I've become the type of person who is terrible at being independent. I have this God-awful list of shit to do, and yet, during the times I should be shit-doing, I'm doing nothing. Afraid of my shit list. Seriously. I cannot handle one thing on it. Well, maybe the smallest things. But the list seems so...what's the word...inconceivably overpowering that it threatens to swallow me whole if I engage it.

I also cannot make any decisions while shopping for some lame reason. Every time I go to Target or something, I have to call my lovely husband to make a decision on something so random and mundane. And when I realized that, I was sickened and ashamed. So today, I went to Costco, made a decision on some t-shirts for our upcoming trip (since I have 3 shirts to my name, I would like to have a few more so no repeats shirt-wise). I selected 3 of these tie-dye ones, and they don't have dressing rooms. So I got them knowing I might end up bringing them back. Then I saw the two-pack of fitted t's that just called out to me, so I got them too. Knowing I might end up bringing those back. While the tie-dye ones make my jugs look nice, they are too tight around my waist. Pity, they are so cute. The other 2 make my jugs look smaller than my belly, which is more honest, but they fit better. So I am keeping those.

Back to my point, I made these decisions (as well as to take the 3 cute ones back) all by myself!!! Gold star for Jocelynne? No. As soon as I told my lovely husband of the shirt debacle, I was scolded most severely as apparently I was warned last week that we can get no extra ANYTHINGS to save for the trip. Nevermind the fact that I desperately need t-shirts, nevermind the fact that any time I've bought myself a necessity I end up taking it back out of guilt in lieu of something my family needs more, nevermind the fact that I'm taking the 3 back; the two I am keeping are apparently an extravagance the likes of which have never been recorded in history.

So I pouted. And I'm mad. At being spoken to that way. Hmph.

And in addition, I've apparently pinched a nerve in my neck which has been sending excruciating pains down my arm and burning in my shoulder. Lovely.

So, my dear internet peeps, it has not been a most joyous week, I am sad to say. And yesterday I had one of my lovely crying jags whereupon I burst out crying for seemingly no reason and every reason simultaneously.

Here's to a better rest-of-week and hopefully I've not brought you all down to the bottom of the barrel with me. Who will throw the rope if you're all down here with me?

Peace.

PS Click on the pic to be taken to the full-size version. Just a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor.

Bad Friend

I've been a bad friend since I started using this laptop. I need all my old links on here and in the meantime, I intended to use the links on my blog to keep up with blogs. Well, it hasn't happened. Same with email addresses. The email program I'm using on the laptop is the a very basic thing, and it doesn't have any of my contacts. Grr.

So I hope everyone will forgive me! It basically comes down to the fact that I am probably the laziest person on the face of the earth. Seriously. Or maybe it's just a summer thing.

I gotta go to the mall and hopefully find a decent pair of non-RX sunglasses as mine fell in the river/stream in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Friday. Lovely. I get migraines in direct sunlight (even cloudy days now that I think of it), so I've been forgoing my contacts to wear my RX sunglasses. So I can't see at night or in the house during the day, unless I wear my sunglasses around the house. And that just seems weird to me.

I decided I'm not cut out for manual labor. Or at least two days of manual labor. My back and feet hurt like you would not believe. We laid some sod our neighbors gave us on a small area in our backyard.

I've also been dogsitting (is it dog sitting if you leave them at their house and go put them in and let them out and feed and play and bring in mail and water flowers?) for my brother- and sister-in-law. I'm usually rather uncomfortable around dogs, but this has been a great way to get used to them better. Love the little one, Pookie. She's a Boston Terrier and she's the perfect size and has the cutest personality. She looks at you with her head tilted and ears up, like "what are you doing?" Cracks me up! The other dog Roxie is a Boxer, and she's a little too big for my comfort. I swear, I must have had a bad experience with a dog when I was little and I blocked it out. I should ask my mom. I'm extremely weary of dogs. But maybe it's like with kids, people are weary of other people's kids til they have their own. Who knows?

Well, I better get. Places to go and housework to avoid. You understand. Right?

Cricket Serenade

crickets serenade me
they sing their songs
in the dark part of the day
a nice contrast to the sting
of my blistered fingers
blistered from cutting
the unwanted growth in nature

it's too warm for sheets
too cool for the fan
stuck in the middle
of being asleep
and being uncomfortable

sleep eludes me
and on the nights
when sleep eludes me
i realize just how much
i hate how my brain is wired
how much i long to be outside
myself
even for a short time

i know that won't happen
can't happen
so i shall lie and listen
to the crickets serenade me

Now...

Sorry, it took me a few days to get off my lazy butt and photograph the pages and get them loaded. Click here to go to the 52 weeks mini book! Though it's not really 'mini' anymore. It's fat. I need to take a side photo.

Also, I didn't finish week 32. I think I messed up the page the first time and ended up starting over, and I haven't printed a new picture for that page yet. No biggie!

Peace out!