Category Archives: Dear Diary

Astrological-Based Scheduling

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There are a number of astrological “rules” for scheduling surgery and although I am not a professional astrologer, I know enough to seek out this knowledge and try to incorporate it into my treatment. Rules is in quotes because we don’t always get to choose the time or date, and because the most important factor is not related to astrology, but to the surgeon’s competence. That said, if you have the luxury to participate in the scheduling of your surgery, there are several things to look for, or plan around.

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I’m doing all right

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Mostly. There’s some other potential drama/news in my life that I’m not going to share until it resolves itself, and that is (literally) depressing me.

I’m on the verge of a cold, which means I am staying home from work to get over rather than give into.

I’m making progress on completing my will and medical directive. (Which aren’t *hard* to, but are complicated by my intellectual assets. And no, I don’t mean my brain 🙂 thanks for asking.) There’s a longer post coming, but the short version would be: what do I do with the Tradition I created, my magickal writings, my ritual implements, and my websites full of data? Particularly since my life partner isn’t pagan.

So I am doing well. Then a friend had the following video posted as a comment. And I bawled.

Kate Bush: This Woman’s Work (video)

Having a Biopsy

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I’ve been managing to not worry too much about the biopsy, which was scheduled for several weeks after my second mammogram. But the night before it all hit me pretty hard and I was (for me) very upset. I managed it by having a very good workout (30 mins of cardio and strength training combined), a hot shower, a couple of videos, a glass of wine, and a very good book.

I got a pretty good nights’ sleep and had a light breakfast before I left. I considered skipping breakfast, but realized that I’d probably get VERY shaky if I let my blood sugar drop too much. So, toast, ricotta and jam it was.

NOTE: I’ll be pretty blunt and graphic in this next part, so if you will feel like a voyeur, or get queasy at medical procedures, do NOT read any further.

ok. you were warned. no squeamishness.

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Mammogram Follow Up

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This is a follow up to my previous post about getting a mammogram.

Quite a few women need to go back for a follow up mammogram screening. This is usually not a cause for concern — our breasts have lots of odd bits n pieces of tissue in them, including fatty deposits, ropey fibers, and liquid-filled cysts. Your first screening is viewed with specific care so that any questions about the non-usual can be seen to quickly, mapped out, and then they become part of your future screenings. “Is that something over towards the left?” “Yeah, that’s a little nodule — had it forever.”

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Dinner Theater a la Teatro Zinzanni

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As a surprise for my mom, and a way to have fun for my birthday, J and I took her to see Teatro Zinzanni last night. It’s my third seeing, the first back in ’99 with it’s original presentation (and Ann Wilson [of Heart] as the chanteuse, “Love, Chaos & Dinner”), and the second in 2002 or so (with J., at their temporary Belltown location “Dinner and Dreams”). Both of those times I saw the same emcee (Kevin Kent), which is interesting because the cast, and show, changes over time. They have world class performers doing acrobatics, juggling, magic, stage comedy (not stand up), singing, dancing, and — for lack of a more precise term — stuff. The menu is created by Tom Douglas and is of a fairly high standard.

We had so much fun! Laughed until we cried, ate good food and drank great wine (they do a wine flight of 2.5 oz pours — one for each course, five in all — for $35), and had a nice time chatting with the other people at the table. General admission is in booths along the outer ring.

The setting is a gorgeously restored spiegeltent (mirror tent) constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. There are only eight tents left in existence, one of which is at the sister Teatro Zinzanni production in San Francisco.  and The current emcee, Chef Caesar, leads us through the “All Dressed Up with Some Place to Go” event and we thoroughly enjoyed all of the acts. Most especially Les Petits Freres, Ming and Rui, and The Vertical Tango.

A word about that last one: the title is literal. Take a 50 foot pole, about 6 inches in diameter,add your partner, and  wrap your hands, feet, legs, arms around in in various combinations we you tango up and down, the pole.  Oh, and do it in time to music. Its incredible. Want to see? (Link opens a youtube video.)

Just for fun: here’s Ming and Rui (this one is for you Jeremy) and one of Vita Radionova, the company contortionist.

*pant*

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If you read the news, you know that it has been intensely hot here in the PNW. Yesterday it was 105* in Kent (a new record high) and its now been long enough to break the record for number of hot days in a row. One of the most noticeable reasons has been the lack of an overnight drop in temp — it doesn’t dip below 65. This means that the houses don’t have a chance to cool down, and we start the day ‘warm’ and get warmer from there.

In our house yesterday morning, it was 76* — and this was with every window open and the door to the garage open to encourage cool air to rise up the center hallways (yes, I know hot air rises, not cool air; but warm air leaving the top of the house will pull cool air from down below). When we opened the windows again in the evening (after 9pm) it was 84* — in a perfectly sealed house with no electrical appliances running (except the fridge), no human activity, and nothing to warm it except the sun on the outside walls. (Yikes.) This morning it was 74* and apparently its supposed to get cooler from here on out (and the forecast is for 101* today).

We are basically living on take out in our basement guest room. Sasha spends a lot of time lying on the (cement) floor of the garage. We leave the car parked outside to keep as much of the coolth inside. We eat take out because I can’t stand the idea of turning on the stove. We keep two pitchers of water in the fridge at all times. (Although tonight it’ll be sliced fruit, veggies, and a nice salad.)

Bottom line: it’s very uncomfortable. But we are fortunate in being able to maintain a relatively comfortable temp and lifestyle (albeit limited) at so little cost. A coworker had central air installed a few years ago, and while she’s cooler than I at the moment, the ongoing cost of that system is far, far, higher than I’d be willing to waste, year after year. A few days of discomfort won’t kill me, or even harm me.

It’s about 8:30am . . .

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 . . .  and I’ve been at work for 2 hours already. As of this minute, I’m at 40 hours for the week. I’m looking at (easily) a 56-hour week.

Who is salaried? I am salaried.

I’m tired. I’m doing a really good job. I’m remaining cheerful and low stress (high stress was last week as I felt like I had to give people a big NUDGE to get their parts done, so that I wouldn’t be quite so burdened this week). I am a team member and we’re all in this together.

Next week will likely look that same (although slower in the early part of the week).

Thank you for reading my whine.  🙂

Back to work.

Independence Day

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The word patriotic has taken on uncomfortable  connotations for those of us on the fringe, partly because of the Bush Administration’s deliberate creation of polarity instead of continuum. Patriotism is the love of or devotion to one’s country, but when you have poor laws like the Patriot Act (HR 3162) that do nothing but violate the fundamental law of the country (i.e., the Consitution) the meaning gets twisted.

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