Momentary Respite

I am between doses. Oh my God! I am telling you, this is awful. The stuff I have to drink (I've downed the first 32 oz..) is hideous. I thought I was going to throw up. I had one last swallow that I simply couldn't swallow and I just looked at it and figured that that one swallow was not going to make or break the issue. It hasn't.

At about 5:15 I began the trips to the bathroom. Remember I had to drink 8 oz beginning at 4 p.m. every 15 minutes until 5 p.m. Then, I started going to the bathroom. I've been going about every 15 minutes since. I do apologize for grossing anyone out. It is not pretty.

I have to drink the next 32 oz. at 9 p.m. and I simply don't see how I will ever get any sleep tonight. I'm so hungry I could eat the boards off the walls and I am lightheaded. Probably from a combination of hunger and dehydration. I am drinking all I can but I just feel nauseous at the thought of one more swallow of anything. I've been drinking a glass of iced tea for the last hour! They said I had to drink 16 oz of a clear liquid immediately after each liter. Why that's half a quart more liquid and I don't see how they could possibly think I can do that.

Between potty breaks I've been clearing out old magazines. Not for the paper either! I'm trying to break my information addiction. It is depressing. I wanted to stop and see if I had read them all. I think there were a couple I may not have but I believe I had read them all for the most part. But I didn't allow myself a peek. I put them in a box to take to the library and see if they want them. They are all Writer's Digest magazines and they do carry them there. Anyway, can't hurt to see. I hate tossing knowledge that someone else may benefit from.

I'm trying to slim the house down a bit and I think I am making some headway. I still have some things I want to sort out but I need to get my storage cabinet that will store my sewing items done next. I can't really put it where I want it until it is done. I've asked Jerry to get the top done but as usual he never completes a task anymore. I just will have to do it myself I suppose. I can but I thought it he could do that when I'm at work and he's home, it would make it easier for me to complete my projects.

I'm going to stop now. I want a shower so badly and at my next little respite I would like to hop in there and hose down. I feel I need a dip in the horse trough to really do the job right. If one could only heat it first it would be very enticing to find one.

It's going to be a long night so I'll probably be back. I have been working on the stories a bit today so that is something else I'm doing tonight. I've been busy clearing debris this last week that I've fallen behind. Very annoying that is.

If anyone of you are on my Yahoo or MSN messenger, you might try and buzz me here and there. I'm not going anywhere I don't think . . . well, except to the bathroom. If I can I'll pop out and chat with you. LOL.

Starvation Sunday!

We're here at last. I can have nothing to eat today but clear liquids until after the procedure which will be done tomorrow morning at 9:40 a.m. I am dreading it. Say several prayers for me. Already without my pain meds I'm having a lot more pain but I've not reached the unbearable stage, so that is a bonus. I hurt mostly in the large joints, my lower back, shoulder and upper arms and all related to motion. If I don't move around a lot, I'm o.k. I'm going to hit the shower soon for a very hot shower. I would love to have a hot tub about now. Heat helps so much.

I used to be able to fast but now after two meals I began to get sick. I suspect it has to do with my blood sugar but not sure about that. I have clear chicken broth in the kitchen and will utilize that. At 4 p.m. I have to start taking the medicine to clean out my colon. 36 oz at 4 p.m. and another 36 oz. at 9 p.m. I have to drink 8 oz every 15 minutes until I finish each one. I have no idea what it tastes like. I also have to dink 16 oz of water afterward.

I don't want to gross you all out but the last time I did this I got sick to my stomach and thought I'd throw up. I also became raw from the diarrhea to the point I was screaming when I had to go to the bathroom. The stuff literally scalded me every time. The screams terrified my sons who were young teenagers at the time. It was a horrible experience and one I'm afraid to repeat. I have a few things ready should that happen again but there is no guarantee that they will help.

So, as I said, say a lot of prayers for me. I'm going to try and get warm now. It is very cold. I got me lovely electric bill. $300 USD. You heard me. The same as my car payment. You don't want to know what I think of this utility company. And this is with my heat turned back to 50 degrees from 11:30 at night until 6 a.m. the next morning. I also keep it at 69 in the day time. I can only imagine what families are experiencing if they have it warmer!

I will try and drop a note later one to let you all know how it is going. Tomorrow I may not be around. They tell me I will be groggy afterward and probably sleep a lot. I probably need that anyway but I do hate losing a day. I only have so many of those left, you know! Losing one isn't good.

The Priest of Heliopolis

I was reading my daily Bible reading, tyring to catch up three day I 'm behind and ran across something that drew my attention. I've probably read it dozens of times in the past but today, it sort of rang a bell with me and I felt inclined to do a little research.

I'm reading in Genesis of the time when Joseph was released from prison because he interpreted a dream for Pharaoh. The ruler was so impressed he appointed Joseph to be his second in command and to manage the food supply for the predicted seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. At that time Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife. Her name was Asenath. She was the daughter Potiphera. Potiphera was a priest of Heliopolis.

The word Heliopolis (On) jumped out at me today because several years ago I kept running across this area of Egypt in my studies. I even watched a documentary on the History channel about it and a certain Pharaoh named Akhenaten (he changed his name to this from Amenhotep IV. There are variations in spelling of both names).

The interesting thing about this particular Pharaoh was that he is began a rebellion in Egypt established a religion that stated there was only a single God whom he called Aton, rather than the pantheon of gods Egypt believed. The center for this religion it thought to have been at or near Heliopolis.I have given you a link to the History site that gives a bit more detail and there are other that will give you information about Aton, the one God of Akhenaten.

"During the 18th Dynasty the pharaoh Amenhotep III renamed the sun god Aton, an ancient term for the physical solar force. Amenhotep's son and successor, Amenhotep IV, instituted a revolution in Egyptian religion by proclaiming Aton the true and only god. He changed his own name to Ikhnaton, meaning “Aton is satisfied.” This first great monotheist was so iconoclastic that he had the plural word gods deleted from monuments, and he relentlessly persecuted the priests of Amon. Ikhnaton's sun religion failed to survive, although it exerted a great influence on the art and thinking of his time, and Egypt returned to the ancient, labyrinthine religion of polytheism after Ikhnaton's death." From The History Channel - Egyptian Mythology

Now, you may ask why I find this small bit of the Bible of any interest at all. It is a good question. I believe in a single, unified God. I believe He is one single being. So, when I find Joseph, a child raised by a father who also believed in a single God but who is a prisoner in a city where the major religion worships hundreds of gods, being given a wife who is very likely the daughter of a Priest of a religion that teaches there is one, single God I find myself experiencing several emotions. Amazement comes to mind.

Had Joseph been presented with any other woman, he may not have accepted her because of the conflict in their religious beliefs. Or, he may have been drawn away from the God of his father to accept the gods of his wife. But here Joseph is presented with a woman who may very well been taught to recognize only one reigning God.

Amazing.

Of course you could say there is no evidence of Asehath's background. No, there isn't. But I find it a bit curious that we would even be told who this Egyptian woman's father was if there was not importance attached to it. When wives are mentioned in the Bible, their lineage is only important when something momentous is attached to it. Even men's lineage is subject to this peculiarity. For example, in Genesis 36:24 we find that one of the original peoples of Edom was a man called Zibeon who had two sons named Aiah and Anah. Anah is the one who discovered hot springs in the wilderness while he was grazing his father's donkeys.

Now, that single fact has no bearing on anything in the Bible that I know of. But for those repeating the oral history it would be very important for some reason. Perhaps the springs themselves became well known but this was Edom - the land of Esau, and not a place Jacob's descendants would bother with much. Obviously, only important information was added in the lineages of the Bible. You will find this kind of thing here and there where a recitation of names occurs.

Personally, I believe this particularly wife was probably selected for Joseph for the reasons I mentioned. God looked out for Joseph. The religious uprising in Egypt probably occurred before the children if Israel came to Egypt. Imagine for a second, a rogue Pharaoh suddenly breaking with hundreds of years of tradition to establish a monotheistic religion. A single priest of this religion has a daughter destined to become the wife of Joseph and a direct descendant of Jesus Christ. The god/man of Christianity. After the death of that Pharaoh, the religion of Egypt reverted back to polytheism and never again did such a thing occur.

Peculiar, interesting, amazing? I think so.

Drive By Hi!

I am just stopping to dash off a note. I am at work. Just got out of court. I was subpoenaed for a rent and damage hearing against one of my clients. Let me just say, I hate lawyers on general principles. I'm sure there are some sincerely dedicated lawyers but my experience is that most are obnoxious, rude boors. The plaintiff's attorney was the rudest man. Understand these are not MY lawyers but the lawyers for the tenant and the landlord.

Well, started that yesterday and never got back to it! My whole day was like that. After work I went to Mike's to fix his mouse on his computer and didn't get home until 7 p.m. His computer is a mess and needs a good cleaning off. I am going to just reformat him and start clean, I think. Take two days to do it but it downloaded the Service Pack 3 for XP and my guess is that caused the problems. His speed is about the same as mine but he is not running at that capacity at all.

When I got home at 7 I realized immediately something was wrong. Jerry was at work. My heat dials back to 60 during the hours he is at work and at 5 will be warmed back up to comfort level for me when I get in. At 7 it was still 60 degrees! I tried all I knew to get it working but finally called the repairman at 8 p.m. -- after normal business hours. He was really nice and we talked about possibly waiting until morning but I was concerned the pipes would freeze and burst and then I'd have a plumber's service call on top of the heating problem. I hated to ask anyone to come out in that cold and work on it. It was 17 degrees.

So, he came and worked an hour and a half and found the problem. Then, he said he didn't have the part because it is one they don't carry on the trucks. Its an old part. He said he'd get me heat for the night and get the part in the morning. He was going to hard wire it but he went out and cleaned the part and connections and plugged it back in and it fired right up! He thinks it was dirty connections. I had a choice of not replacing the part but I was worried it may be defective and he agreed it could be and there was no way to know. So, now I'm thinking another service call and a part on top of this nighttime call.

You know, I sat in the study for the whole time he was working just outside the window and I prayed for it to be something simple. That unit cost us $3500 when we bought it 11 years ago and it is nearing the time when it has to be replaced again. I dread it because now it probably cost $5000!

When he was done, the final bill for an after hours call was $133. Today the guy called me and told me how much the part is. He says he can sell it to me at cost and just run by and put it in for us at no extra charge but there wouldn't be a warranty with it since he can't tell the company and he could get in a lot of trouble if they found out. The part was only $12 at cost and $20 with their markup. I told him I didn't want anyone to get in trouble and if something went wrong, I might not be able to get it corrected. He agreed and then said he would only charge me $50 for the part and to come by and put it in with new connectors too. So, I feel I came out ahead. He was so nice and I think he would have just sold it to me at cost and put it in for free if I had asked but I really would hate for anyone to get in trouble for doing me a favor.

So, now I have heat. I really need to get a home warranty on my appliances. This is getting expensive. I replaced the refrigerator last year. My dryer is not well. I have an old washer. Now the heat is acting up. So, I better plan now.

I have to get back to work. This has taken me the better part of two days to actually get this far. Tonight I am going to be cleaning out some files and clearing some more clutter. Hope you all have a great day, wherever you are.

Long Days, Short Nights

I wonder why it is that long days are followed by short nights? I never have enough time from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. to accomplish all my needs and desires. We had David, Becca, and Sarah over tonight and they left around 9 p.m. Sarah was in rare form. We got to sing, dance, read Clifford, and just chatter all over the place. She is such a sweet baby but will not let her mother out of her sight for five minutes when she is nearby. She kisses her and pats her cheek and says, "You so sweet, Mommy. I love you. It's all right." She is just an angel.

Potty training is apparently complete and Sarah has graduated to panties completely. Oh, and three's are too large but they don't sell 2's! So, we have to boil them to make them shrink enough to stay up. LOL! She doesn't wet the bed at all.. I'm talking completely potty trained - #1 & #2 as we used to say. In less than two months. I'm astounded. I should have been so lucky. Hah!

My pain has disappeared except for my shoulder and neck. I have no idea what is going on with that but I have virtually NO pain since Sunday night. Several people had similar experiences at church Sunday night and told about it but I didn't have any special prayer or even ask for prayer. Didn't realize it even until today. I'm thankful and will just say Praise the Lord for even small blessings. No pain is no small blessing.

I'm going to bed soon and try to get some extra rest.

I am really aggravated with myself because there's been no writing in over a week. First I was miserable with pain. Then, I had to move stuff and clean stuff and now, I'm just tired. I have been sticking to a plan though and it has been helping keep things prioritized so I will soon be back on track. Still have lots to clean out and toss away. I can't believe some of the things I've kept and don't remember why! I have realized I am an information junkie.

Yes, folks, I am addicted to information and knowledge. I can't help it. If I find an interesting article somewhere and can tear it out, copy it, print it out, or bookmark it I do. I may read it right away but more often than not, I never get around to it because something more important pushes it back. Eventually, I have this huge file (pile) of information. I do read it but I never get finished with all of it because I keep adding to it. I have several notebooks of articles I printed out to read. I'll be going through those this week.

You know, I've always said I have a mind like a sink. . . . . hole! I used to be able to win every round of Trivial Pursuit. My husband had a friend who loved the game. He came over one night and brought his game with him. We played for hours. LOL, you know, he never asked to do that again! That was about 22 years ago!

I am having a colonoscopy on Monday. As of tomorrow I have to watch my diet and can't take my anti-inflammatory medicine. This is where it could get bad. As of Friday, I can't take the RA medicine either so after that, it may get really ugly. Those are the two meds that keep my disease in check. I stand to be in a very bad place by Monday. So you can see why I really hope that this last two days is a touch from God and it continues. On Sunday I can't eat at all until after the procedure on Monday morning and as I am considered diabetic, this can give me other problems. I'm less worried about that because I produce insulin but my body doesn't utilize it well - insulin resistant.

As of tomorrow I can't have any nuts, seeds, skin, purple foods or red foods. I don't actually eat much red and purple but I love nuts. This kind of diet will be a pain because it is actually looking at my food ! LOL.

That's it for me, folks. I'm ready to call it a night. I hope you all have a great week and you get over the hump without incident.