[Mari]

Hi,

His is a place to post your updates if you want.

I'm tired. I fell asleep in my chair at the computer.


This is the end of Earth Week.
Do any of you get out side to do things in the open air? I wish that I got out more.
M.

[befuddled2]

Hi Mari,

I do get outside to work. I worked in my garden yesterday. I put newspapers down in my garden so that the paper will kill the weeds. Maybe today I'll buy some mulch and put that on top of the paper to hold it down better. For now I put rocks on the newspaper to hold it down. My garden is very rocky though.

barbara

[Mari]

Dear Barbara,
Gardening sounds like a wonderful activity.
It is nice also to see the results of the work when the flowers come up.
M.

[waves]

Happy Earth Week to you and everyone here, also.

Mari,

I love the pic... although i wouldn't want to get near that Moray poking it's nose out on the left side... at least... looks like a Moray. Sure they're timid enough... unless you get in their way, lol. Then out come the BiG poInTY TEETH to use a Monty Python expression.

Barbara,

Cool that you are working on your garden. I live in an apartment but we have plants. I have 3 plants. My older african violet needs repotting/adjustment badly but i'm not sure how to go about it... i wouldn't want to destroy it trying.

When i cleaned it (mom said to) with a brush it ended up losing all its leaves. It grew more but where it lost them is now bare stem... first African Violet "mini-tree" i've seen. Now that the stem has dried out, i want to try sinking it into the ground hoping it will set roots, so the foliage will be closer to the ground and the plant more stable coz it's top heavy and falling all over the place as it is. But i'm afraid it might decide not to sprout roots and rot on me instead.

That violet, btw, before mom said to clean it, erhmmm, was flourishing. It had bloomed indoors several times and probably would have again. It has not since. It has been all i could do with plant food just getting it to start making foliage in the proper shapes and color again. the top looks good now and it's losing the lower / less healthy leaves that it first made (after the cleaning)... which of course means it will get even more umbrella-looking.

If we have any African violet experts on board who can make suggestions on this very peculiar situation, i would welcome any input, whether or not i am then brave enough to follow up.

~~~

Made most of the backups of the Vista System. One more i want to do - it isn't suggested anywhere but they do warn that software won't be supported. So, it may not run on XP, but then again it may. Of course, i have no assurance that the "recovery disks" made by their instructions will work either, should i need them. . (no way to test without destroying the system). Anyway, 1 CD to burn and then up goes XP, fingers crossed everything will behave.

~~~

I hate this stuff. I wish i had something restorative, constructive and NOT SCARY to do - i.e. not risking tearing apart a new system or possibly killing a plant.

~~~

Well this is what is going on, but as for plans, i have very firm un-plans for this weekend. I hope to sing/play some more, at some point. been doing that. getting back into shape (music wise, not body wise... heh GROAN). I am not sure that music is constructive and right now it is not even restorative... but i seem to be clinging to it for dear life.

~ waves ~

[befuddled2]

Mari, I love to see the results of my garden. I just hope that the inpatients I planted today will not die cause I got the wrong kind.

Waves, I don't know anything about African Violets. I only know inpatients. I bought the kind of inpatient for the shade by mistake because my yard is sunny most the day. I didn't feel like going back to get the right kind though cause my back was killing me and the lines were long. I did plant about 5 inpatients though after putting some mulch down. I'll have to water them tonight. I planted the back row 1st so the 1st row will not smother out the back row. The front row should be smaller so you can see the back row easy. I hope the ones I planted today on the back row won't die becasue they are the wrong ones. I could never live it down if my garden failed and my next door neighbor has all her pretty houseplants outside. So keep your fingers crossed for me.

The way I found out about inpatients was asking people like you are about African Violets. Also, there is always the option of googling in care of the African Violet.

[Pamster]

Not feeling so well, I had a pain management Dr. appt today and told him about some new pain I am having, it's been seven years since my last MRI and he wants to get me on MONDAY for a fresh one on my neck. I got up out of bed about a month ago and had turned my head and got a sharp pain in my neck and then it snaps after I raise my arms up shoulder high with ANY weight bearing....

The diagnositic testing he did on me made me HURT and he said based on what I told him about NO weakness in the muscles and NO numbness that it's probably a nerniated disc and most likely NOT pinching a nerve, we'll see, I am so anxious about this MRI...I have known it was coming though because of the pain this past month...I just hate this, its an open MRI machine thank heavens, but even so I think I will be taking my lorazepam when I go into the machine, bring a def leppard CD and just PRAY it goes well the first time so they don't have to redo anything.

I have been having really AWFUL panic attacks and just have a fear of this procedure...I hope it's going to be all right I am so scared guys, I hope that he doesn't want to shoot my neck in the spine, I can't handle that....He said if it was nerve pinching he'd reccommend an epidural.

Jackie had a great day today, his class went to a community park which has a little water park, not a pool, but like big old sprinklers and such, he's been doing better. The soccer ball is a lot of fun to play with. And he's enjoying it a lot. I don't know how the weekend will go, we have the aide coming out and I am taking over the work she does with Jackie, like using this communication book, the aide made it and we go over like six pages with fifty icons on it, and he tells us what they are, like pics of things from toys, to body parts and places and people. It's really helping him I think.

Mom is coming over but she's been having a bellyache for like over a month now and I am worried about her. She's all I got left and it scares me to think that she might not be around much longer. I need her still...so much...Hopefully we'll have a good weekend and the MRI will go by quickly and I won't have a panic attack IN the machine, that is what I am worried about, if I can get through the test okay then I have to wait until THURSDAY to get the results of the test from the dr when I go back in...I hope that it's not going to mean an epidural. So worried....

Other then these things it's getting better, the abilify is helping but not fully yet and the new blood pressure med has my high blood pressure under control again so all's well on that front. Hope everyone has a awesome weekend!

[Mari]

Hi,
I've had braces on since Valentine's Day.

I am wearing them because the night guard completely messed up my ability to chew food -- I was eating mush for a number of months.


In 10 weeks I have noticed a difference.
I can chew a few certain foods now that I could not before.

But it is still a hassle and I am learning to make them part of my life now. Tdoc said that in order to keep mood stability and functioning I had to learn to get a long with them. I need to let them be part of my day to day and go with the flow. I'm learning to do that little by little.

At night, the issue is brushing the teeth.
Somehow the braces have become tied into my very complicated and life-long issues about sleep ---- like I needed to add anything to my life that further complicates my ability to sleep.

Right now, I am putting off bushing / cleaning my teeth and I am putting off going to bed.

I'll work it out I hope.
Thanks for giving me some place to talk about this.




M.

[Mari]

Hi,

Late Friday afternoon I checked my email and saw / learned that a student in one of my classes has bacterial meningitis.

I am supposed to inform that particular class that
1. we might have all been exposed
2. the county health department is recommending that we all start and complete a course of antibiotics
3. the school health center has the antibiotics for us.

I was a little freaked out for a few hours.
Now I have figured out who the kid is because a colleague did some guess work (NO Help from ADMIN in that guess work!!! ). I'm calm.
I'm supposed to be calm and serious about this in front of the kids on Monday. -- yet another job responsibility.
It's hard to be calm when I might rather pull out hair -- not mine -- but a few people's.

I'm venting a lot tonight.


Oh, and the next time a kid wants to borrow a pen of mine and return it after putting it in his mouth, his ear, his nose, ... I'l have a few words about social hygiene.
AND I will tell him to do everyone a favor and throw it out.

Sorry.
I'll take a break while I go brush / clean my teeth.

M.


Thank you very much.

[waves]

Hi,

i'm not good for much right now but i saw both your posts.... wanted to say a couple things.

that is great that you are already seeing a little improvement chewing! and, glad you got to the brushing in the second post... take it one night at a time, try not to think about the overall sleep situation. just do the best you can each night, as it comes, and i believe you will get through.

i'm so sorry to hear about the meningitis thing at school. that sure would freak me out. i am relieved they already have a plan in place and supplies to keep you all safe.

an old fashioned hug...

(((((((( Mari ))))))))

~ waves ~

[Pamster]

Oh my God! Are you sure you're all right Mari? That is frightening! They should have told you which student it was just for your own sanity...It's not like you would announce THAT info to the class, but I can definitely appreciate you and your collegues need to know....

I am so sorry about the bite thing too, that's not right, it shouldn't have happened like that because of a mouth guard, that's what it was right? THat stinks...Braces hurt, I remember, had them for two years myself when I was 13-15. Hang in there Mari.