Woosh!

Well, that was the sound of April passing me by! Where does all the time go? As a Star Trek fan, I can't help but wonder sometimes if there is something about my space-time continuum that I'm missing, but if I'm truthful, I can figure it out pretty quickly.

Lots of things have happened this month. . .

• I finally made it to the photography museum to see the Pulitzer prize winning photo exhibit. A very few of those photos are of joyful moments. It was a sobering exhibit.


• I worked with Gracie's Brownie troop on their scrapbooking try-it. We'll get to finish up at a later meeting - trying to keep 23 6-year olds focused is a lot like herding cats.


• Maggie had her 2nd grade field trip - to a Henry and Mudge play.


• We got our season passes for the local aquatic center. This was a bit of a sly move on my part. The passes are only offered to city residents, and you have to bring your utility bill to prove your residency. Our new house is not in the city limits, so we won't be able to do this next year, but this year we will enjoy that benefit!


• We paid our taxes. UGH!!!


• Gracie was a star in her first grade production of "Pooh's Clues" and even got her picture in the local newspaper!


• We had muffins for mom at the girls school. This just means that the girls brought me to school with them, and we ate muffins and then snuggled up with a book and read until it was time for school to start. A friend sent this, which I found amusing:
  

  If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
  by Kathy Fictorie, based on "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

• Gracie's Girl Scout troop visited and made a donation to the local Ronald McDonald House.


• I got to sit and watch kids take standardized tests for three days. I'm not complaining - they asked us to bring something quiet to occupy us, so I took Maggie's Christmas Stocking - I'm so close to being done!


• I actually invited someone over into the abyss that is my craft room and we scrapped!


• And we enjoyed the proximity of family - my in-laws came to pick up the girls for the weekend, so Jerry and I enjoyed a quiet weekend to ourselves!

Also, since my last post, I've been rather, shall we say, preoccupied with my health.

After the whole heart racing episode I got referred to a cardiologist. Looking at my overall heath picture he decided that he didn't want to sentence me to a chronic medication if what I had was a truly random episode, so he scheduled me a treadmill test to see if we could make my heart race again. My test was April 1 (I briefly thought about falling down clutching my chest while doing the test, then popping up and saying, "April Fools!", but with my luck they'd hit me with those electrified paddles before I could get up!) and I did pretty well, all things considered. I asked my technician if I was going to have to run, and warned him that these days, the only time I run is if one of my kids is in danger. He said we'd have to see how long I lasted. I did get up to a run before it was over, and did just fine on the test.

A couple of days after the test though, I had a quick sharp chest pain, and then some lingering discomfort for several days. A call to the cardiologist got me set up for a couple of more tests - a heart CT scan to check for plaque (it was normal) and a leg ultrasound (not done yet) to check for any deep vein blood clots. I also saw my regular doctor, and he wanted to check on some non-cardiac things, so he wanted to schedule a gallbladder function test. What the heck - at this point I'm WAY past my deductible, so let's find out what this thing is/was.

The gallbladder function test was today. From my reading on the Internet, I thought I was going to have to chug down something called a "fatty meal replacement" - ugh! Sounded like they want me to pound down the contents of my grease can - gross! Can't I just bring in a side of Outback Cheesy Fries and eat them? Well, today I was relieved to find out it was something they injected, not ingested. The test seemed to go fine, but it will be several days before my doctor gets the results.

All in all, I feel pretty good, except for being so out of shape. That's probably half my problem right there, and the other half is not getting enough sleep and/or too much (self-induced) stress. So, that's what I'll be working on for now! Here's to a relaxing May - may it go by slower!