Original Formula

I'm back home again from a 10 day hospital stay. Actually, I got here Monday afternoon, but I am still feeling puny and tired.

The infection came back in spades, the one in my neck, and it was really bad this time. The doctor made an incision on the outside of my neck to allow drainage away from my body so I'll have another nice scar. It isn't painful anymore, but I will say that morphine is a delight when used responsibly. Ha ha! I also had a few episodes of a fib, but since they were without symptoms, I was told not to worry too much about it.

I have a home health care nurse coming every day to repack the wound and check my vitals, but next week, I will need to learn how to do that myself every other day. 

Other than that, we are all doing well - me, Sweetie, Princess, Corky, Snoopy, Reese's, Milly, and Bunny Boo Boo.

Authorized Dealer

Halloween has come and gone. Hooray. The election is over and I am relieved. There is still Thanksgiving this month and that other thing coming in December. 

And I am fully recovered. TON asked how one could swallow an earring. With great difficulty, I answer. It happened like this: I have a little saucer on the bathroom sink. Every day, I put my morning meds on the counter, and the evening pills in the saucer. Some days I am lazy, and put my earrings in the saucer, too, and so you can guess what happened. 

Back in January, I declared this to be the Year of Me. I wasn't sure what all that meant, but I put it out to the universe. This year I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I also weighed 232 pounds, had lower back pain, and got winded walking up stairs.

Over the spring and summer, I got the diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol under control and lost 20 pounds. I also cut my long hair off and let it go gray. I suffered with the heat all summer long. I was miserable.

I finally really wanted to quit drinking, and I did, Just like that, pretty much. It's been about 2 months and the desire is mostly gone. I say mostly, because sometimes a cold beer is just the thing on a warm afternoon, but I am the pragmatist and know that one beer would lead to a 12 pack. (Interestingly enough, what made me quit more than anything was figuring up the cost of my beer habit and Sweetie's, too - over $4000 a year.) Sweetie has returned the keg back to the micro-brewery and doesn't drink inside the house.

I lost another 15 pounds.

Before the earring episode, I was getting my groove back with my art. I had more energy. I found my waist line. No more lower back pain. I started walking all three dogs at least twice a day. 

Now that I have recovered, I find that I have lost 42 pounds since the start of the year. I feel really vibrant and alive for the first time in a long time. I want to start lifting weights again. 

I look and feel pretty damn good for 55.

Now, I am wondering what I want to put out to the universe for next year. The Year of Becoming?