When I got home from FFII the lab results were waiting. The anemia did not go away. I was diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia in January. This is my own fault for not taking the flipping iron pills for most of last year. It got better, but counts are still below norm. So the surgery to have the implants removed (from last years reconstruction) has been postponed again until ?. This is a good thing. I have been getting the riot act from friends about taking better care of myself. So this gives me time to be completely healthy (not just ok) before anything is done.



Having to resched this procedure twice is telling me to re-evaluate things. I think we pull things to us for a reason. So what reason did I have to cause this delay? I am going to re-evaluate removing the implants. I do not particularly like them - they feel odd and not all that comfortable. My breasts seem too large for my frame. But maybe keeping them permanently or for a while might be a good idea. I never have understood the draw breasts have, but have been enjoying the reactions I get with them.



1 highlight of my day last weekend was doing a shimmy in a low shirt and having a fellow stop dead, totally freeze up for a good 15-30 seconds and then mention something about trying not to blush. It was great!



There are a multitude of issues that go with this decision. Body image, self confidence, dread of going under the knife again. Doc says should be a C without implants (if he had told me that last year, I never would have had them included in the reconstruction process), but what if I do end up a B cup?. Does that really matter at all? Maybe I would enjoy it, having had a large bust my entire life. The thoughts just keep flowing. I will be tossing some of this to the cosmos to help make the decision. There is a block somewhere, I just need to find it.



In the meantime – life continues in all its joys. :)

Hello all you fellow members of Geekdom - today is the day we celebrate Pi! So go on out there and get some apple Pi, cherry Pi or whatever your favorite Pi is. But stay away from the cobbler - only circles today ;)

Fuente Enterno was awesome, better than last year. I danced and hugged and ran around having a blast. Someone said I was wearing an E smile all weekend. This isnt the 1st time a similar comment has been made. Have never taken E, it sounds fun, but I never felt the need to try it. So if the smiling crazy person runs up and gives you a big hug it is Me, High on Life, Sharing, Hugging and Connecting Spirit.



Let the Hugging Begin! (smile)

Well, have 2 roommates. 2 male cousins moved in on Thursday. All seemed well but today, I came home to find they had installed locks on the 2 bedrooms doors! This hit a big button with me. I don't have any other locked internal doors in the house. Either we trust each other, or we don't. They did leave me keys, but I don't understand why they felt they needed locks at all. I have asked them to remove them and they agreed. We have talked and all is well. I haven't had roommates in the past who needed locks.



So question, are locks a normal thing?

Well, shoot. Looking for roomates again. I am not sure what is going on. I have never had problems with getting or keeping roomates. In my last home, I had the same roomates for years. Since I moved into this house a bit over 1 year ago, there have been 5. All left for their own reasons not personal conflicts. Reasons so far are: unknown, he just disapeared, I came home one day all his stuff was gone, one could not afford the rent, one decided she wanted a place of her own and moved into an apratment, one moved because his job moved him with no notice, and the most recent is moving in with his pregnant girlfriend. I can only think it is karma or something. So I am tossing it to the fates. Perhaps there is a roomate that I am supposed to have, who is not ready to move yet. Maybe it is a lesson on finances. I could really use the rent income though. Or perhaps I am ment to live alone for a while. I hope not. I enjoy having people around.



Wish me luck all



From posted listing:



My current roommate has decided to move on. So I am looking for 1 or 2 roommates. I have a 3 br home in Lakeside. There are white oak wood floors throughout, family room with a brick wall and fireplace, washer n dryer. I can connect you to high speed internet via wireless connection. I am looking to rent 2 of the rooms to 2 individuals for $650 and $500 respectively or together to 1 person (or couple) for $1,000. Roommates will share the same bath. I am looking for non-smokers. Some pets will be ok.

Vixxen had this in her blog, interesting ideas



1. If I were a planet, I would be: Mercury

2. If I were a month, I would be: May, Completion of spring and the promise of summer

3. If I were a day of the week, I would be: Wednesday, half done and half started

4. If I were a time of day, I would be: That time just before sunset – when the sky is crystalline blue and intense orange

5. If I were a sea animal, I would be: Otter, fun n fast

6. If I were a direction, I would be: East

7. If I were a piece of furniture, I would be: Rocking Chair

8. If I were a sin, I would be: Gluttony, I want it all

9. If I were an historical figure, I would be: An unknown but valued courtesan

10. If I were a liquid, I would be: Pineapple juice, sweet n tart

11. If I were a stone, I would be: Agate, colorful and complicated

12. If I were a tree, I would be: Aspen

13. If I were a bird, I would be: Hummingbird

14. If I were a tool, I would be: Knife, creation and destruction in the palm of your hand

15. If I were a flower/plant: camellia

16. If I were a kind of weather, I would be: Sunshine

18. If I were an animal, I would be: Cat, for sleeping in the sunshine (grin)

19. If I were a color or shade, I would be: cool moss green

20. If I were an emotion, I would be: Joy

21. If I were a vegetable, I would be: Carrot, they even go on pizza

22. If I were a sound, I would be: Rich mellow sounds of the saxophone

23. If I were an element, I would be: Copper, rich color, conductor of energy – in the movie, the blue color originates from copper chloride.

http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/media/moov/rainbow.mov

24. If I were a car, I would be: 4x truck

25. If I were a song, I would be: sung

26. If I were a movie, I would be directed by: Ron Howard, he has a gift

27. If I were a book, I would be written by: Robert Heinlein

28. If I were a food, I would be: Juicy Steak, go ahead, bite

29. If I were a place, I would be: a Lakeshore, spanning 2 worlds



Interesting - I learned a few thing about myself, Go ahead and give it a try

Ran into this article today. Just highlighting more on the major issue I see facing the US and World at this time. When does my right to be/do etc over rule your right to be/do.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.journaltimes.com/blogs/editorials/



01/24: Basic service obligation outweighs personal beliefs

Category: General Posted by: Editors 19 Comments

We see there is another conscience clause dustup in the news, this time at Minneapolis/St. Paul airport where they are considering a crackdown on Muslim cab drivers who refuse to transport passengers carrying alcohol or accompanied by dogs. According to Associated Press reports, about three quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at the airport are Somali and many of them are Muslim. Last week the Metropolitan Airports Commission set a public hearing next month on a proposal to stiffen penalties for drivers who refuse service. First offenders would face a 30-day suspension of their cab license and second offenders would get a two year revocation.



Last year the airports commission received a fatwa or religious edict from the local chapter of the Muslim American Society saying Islamic law prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol because it involves cooperating in sin acording to Islam, according to news reports. Islam also considers the saliva of dogs to be unclean and some cabbies reportedly have refused rides to passengers with dogs as well.



The number of reported ride refusals was running about 77 per month last year, but that has dropped to eight to 20 per month recently in part because of the federal government restrictions on carrying liquids in carry on baggage, according to Reuters news service reports.

The Muslim society tried to broker a compromise last year to color code cabs that would not transport alcohol to signal dispatchers and customers so they would not be hailed from the cab lines, but the airport commission rejected that approach.



We wonder if the religious right, which has championed conscience clause protections for pharmacists who object to dispensing birth control or the morning after pill, will leap to the defense of the Muslim cabbies. Somehow we doubt it.



Yet the issues are strikingly parallel.If you recall, a little more than two years ago the state Regulation and Licensing Department disciplined a pharmacist at a Menomonie K-Mart after he not only refused to fill a birth control prescription for a UW-Stout student, but also refused to forward the prescription to another pharmacy.

The American Pharmacists Association recognizes a pharmacist's right to refuse to dispense medications because of moral or religious beliefs, but they also recognize the obligation to give patients another way to get their prescription. If pharmacies want to accommodate the religious beliefs of their employees by having the capacity to have another pharmacist on duty to fill a prescription, they can do so if they wish. But they shouldn not be required to. Nor should they inconvenience customers who come in the door expecting service for a legitimate prescription by sending them to another store.



The same goes for the Minneapolis airport. Airport Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan put it bluntly: Our expectation is that if you're going to be driving a taxi at the airport, you need to provide service to anybody who wants it. Filling a legal prescription or transporting a passenger are pretty basic parts of the job for pharmacists and cab drivers. People who have moral or religious objections to doing so would do well to consider another line of work.



Where will it end?!

Never judge a Burner by their costume



I saw this on tribe recently – a Playa Proverb. The day before I had been reading a rant about someone who went to BM and was heckled for wearing jeans as they were not in a ‘costume”



Got me thinking – everyone is/has been making fur coats, chaps and wearing wild costumes. These are fun and I enjoy wearing and seeing people wear them. But are we confirming to a dress code? They say imagination is the best form of flattery, at the same time, re-making someone else’s idea is not all that creative. As the year advances, I am starting to think of creative ideas for covering the bod during the cold and heat of the playa. Maybe lots of fringe or braided wear. I do have an idea for fur coat with patterns shaved in it. ‘



Or maybe make a statement and have a jeans n tee day at camp. But would have to tie dye or bleach the jeans, add patches,etc. It is hard enough to keep them blue for “normal’ wear (grin).

I recently found this on Tribe,



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tech Support: Yes, ... How may I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes, I can help you! Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-esteem with a module of its own called High Self-esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Well, here it is, another birthday, whoopee!!!! It is so good to be 29 again. (grin) Headed out for some more dancing at a local club.



Its been a great holiday season. New Years Eve was a blast, danced so much my lil feeties were sore for days. Umm, well it might have been the heels, but it was still fun and definitely worth it. I have so much fun flirting with everyone. (wicked grin)



Another year, wonder what this one will bring? (smile)

Well, it is moving day - at work. Or rather the next 3 days are moving days. The space committee decided that our current office (that is so centrally located) was needed by the cath lab for storage. So we are moving. I understand, patient care is primary, but it is a royal pain. We will be homeless for a day while the furniture is being moved. No phones, and sharing computers. Ahh well, not so bad, just needed to vent a bit. grmmmble, grrr, grummblee

Finally, after almost 2 weeks, the part (gas valve) came in and the heater is fixed. There is warm air blowing from the vents!!! No more wearing a snow suit to bed - or basically dressing for bed like it was the playa! Layers and Layers!



Sigh... I can feel the chill moving out of my bones.

Recently I was talking with a couple of male friends about relationships. They find it difficult tying to figure out what a woman wants. Now this is much too large a subject for my lil ol blog, but they did get me thinking about romance and what drives it.



For me, romance includes flowers so that is the example I used. What they said is that they did not understand what women wanted, or why they wanted it. I tried to tell them that it didn’t really matter if they understood why, as long as they did the action. I.e. gave her flowers. Later, while driving home (some of my best thinking is while in the car) I started wondering if I was right about that. I started thinking about why I enjoy getting flowers. That lead to the other things that I enjoy about romance and I found a commonality. The flowers, opening doors, pulling out a chair, walking me to the door, walking on the street side (to keep me safe) etc. They all emphasis the feminine in me, that he thinks about me as female and a woman, someone to take care of. So while I am a competent strong person in my own right, I realized that I like being taken care of in lots of little ways. Based on that, I have to admit, that why a man gives me flowers might be just as important as the fact that he did.



I think in some ways, womens lib went too far. We lost something in the process of gaining equality. We came close to losing the joy in all the differences in men and woman. We started expecting men to be as sensitive as women and to be able to communicate in the same ways. And we started to expect woman to be able to stand alone and be totally self sufficient. Men and women are not the same. They think and act differently. The different roles they held in history, was because of the differences.



People lib should celebrate the differences and the range of male/female aspects in us all, while allowing each of us to find our own roles in life. So in answer to friends, you will probably never really know what a woman wants, or why she wants it, because some of us do not really understand it either. (grin)

Ahhh, More joys of home ownership. During the last few coooold nights, I discovered the furnace was not working. I called the repair crew; they came out and said it was not getting enough gas and that I needed to call the gas co. I called the gas co and they came out, found and fixed 2 leaks by the water heater (whopeee!) and tested the flow to the furnace. It was fine. So, I called the furnace repair folk back and of course they were closed for the day. So here I sit, in a wonderful warm snowsuit. Hoping the furnace repair fellow will be able to get back out here tomorrow.

Well, the search for roommates continues. I thought I had found one, but when I checked his references, turns out he is getting tossed out of his current spot for owing 4 months back rent. So thank the gods he was silly enough to actually list his current landlord and they were honest enough to tell me the truth. I might have inherited their problem!