Kitteh Got Lei'ed

Writer's block. I'm still hanging around. Surviving.

The Silent Killer

I've been absent lately. Duh! I've been neglecting my health and not having regular checkups. I don't generally like to go to the doctor's because they find stuff wrong with you. But if you don't find that wrong stuff early, it can kill you.

For example, high blood pressure. When I get a cold, I run over to the convenient Care Now Clinic to see a doctor and get better. They've been warning me that my blood pressure was high the past few years. I attibuted it to the stress of going to a doctor.

Last week, on Monday, I was sitting at my desk at work. Wave after wave of dizzyness washed over me. Scared the crap out of me. I had Dear Hubby take me home because I was afraid that we were about to have to go to the ER. The first few times I tried to take my blood pressure reading at home, it wouldn't even register. Finally, when I calmed down and felt better, I was able to get a reading of 150/100.

Not good. I tried to make an appointment. They weren't able to get me in for a week (10/19/09). I avoided salt and caffeine and did everything I could to survive the long week.

At the doctor's office my blood pressure was 159/103. I had my first EKG (whooohooo!). Luckily, the EKG was normal. She has started me on Beta Blockers. Marvelous little drug. I'm a hyper-active little worrier and it has really mellowed me out. I might even live now.

I go in for bloodwork and chest xrays next week.

Point is, I had slight dizzyness before and I ignored it. It was a warning bell and I friggin ignored it until it was clanging over and over again. High blood pressure can damage your heart and your kidneys. Don't ignore warning signs. And please have a regular yearly checkup to catch stuff like this before it kills you. Hopefully, I caught it in time.

Happy Birthday Mom

You would have turned 62 today. You've missed out on so much.

While traveling

I get bored quickly while driving to and from South East Texas. I try to find things to amuse myself.



This is a redneck family that believes that a family that 4-wheels together, stay together. See the toddler sized 4-wheeler in the back of the big daddy 4-wheeler (or whatever type of vehicle it is)?



Here, we were being held hostage at 40 mph behind a biker gang. It was a curvy road that didn't allow passing. They weren't courteous enough to let us pass.



This little town cracks me up. Every holiday (except Labor Day I guess), they dress up this old truck. It will have lights on it during Christmas and pumpkins around it for Halloween. I guess I can understand the confusion of how to decorate for Labor Day...

Labor Day - back at the Lake

Fun times. We have to buy this tube/raft/floatation device. We went back to SE Texas to visit my SIL over the Labor Day Weekend. Good food & good times.

Wish I was there

I'm going to make vacations a priority from now on. We work day in and day out, paying bills, and making ends meet. There has to be more to life. Relaxing and enjoying seeing new sights together... that's now important to me.

The above picture is also from Lake Tahoe. Beautiful lake. At that moment, we were enjoying the fact that everyone at work would be in meetings but us.

:)

A Detour

So the 2nd day we had a rental car, we left to find me some redwood trees. Dear Hubby remembered a family trip to Yosemite Park so off we went. That's about all he remembered (correctly) because it took way too long to get there, we got lost a few times, and once we were there... he forgot that you didn't end up back at the beginning of the park if you took the highway though it. We had to decide to backtrack the entire way (to get back to Reno) or take this little shortcut called Sonora Pass.

A charming little pass that is closed in the winter. A road with hair pin turns and a 26% incline. A road with steep cliffs and no guard rails.

Needless to say, I was petrified with fear the whole time and didn't take any pictures of the fantastic views. I felt like my eyesight was the glue that held the car to the road and I was afraid to look away.

I understand what "The End" is now. It isn't losing my job. The End would be falling off that mountain and dying. It's been remarkable my attitude adjustment since surviving that little shortcut.