It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

No, I haven't developed a strange need to watch old episodes of Mr. Rogers, or to wear a cardigan.  Today is January 5, normally a very cold time for us.  But with the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, it hit 70 degrees today.  I can personally verify at least 68 since I saw that on the thermometer at the bank across the street from my office.  After work I went to the grocery store and picked up what turned out to be bad turkey.  Oh, the joys of stomach cramps from food poisoning.  When I left there, I noticed that the sky was the most amazing shades of gold, orange, pink, and purple.  So I parked at the boat access to the channel across the street from my apartment.  I took several pictures of the sunset over the Missouri River.  The photos don't do it justice.  It was just absolutely beautiful.  There were lot of people walking down by the river and taking the same photos.  On a day like today, you just have to!

This almost looks more like a coastal view than the Midwest in January!

I also have another picture of Shiloh, the psycho puppy.  He got a new bone for Christmas.  This one is very lightweight, so he likes to toss it in the air and catch it.

Shiloh doing what he does best.  Resting, sleeping, and protecting his

bone--all from under the leg rest on dad's chair.



I'm sure you didn't really say that!

Ok, in my previous post, I promised to be more positive this year.  Well, I have to start that tomorrow.  Today, it took all I had not to "bitch-slap" the owner of Infinity Natural Health.  I went into the store since I was at the mall to do some walking and checking for bargains.  I was actually in a good mood since I found fuzzy brown gloves at JC Penney to match my new winter coat.  Infinity carries some good brands of organic food.  However, I noticed that very little of it was actually lower in sodium.  The woman that owns the store said that if that is what I need I'd just love their raw food section.  Three shelves of what appeared to be birdseed and I'm supposed to get excited?  I tried again to explain what I was looking for  She then lectured me on how there are no forbidden foods and everything can be treated by addressing your digestion.  No, that won't clear up the cirrhosis I have for no known reason.  "Well, that is something you caused."  No, I did not.  I have not had more than about 40 drinks in my entire life, and the majority of those were wine coolers--not even hard alcohol.  "Well, it was created by you."  No, it was not.  She continued to tell me it's my fault that I have NASH liver.  I was so angry that I knew if I didn't walk out, we would wind up in a shouting match and I'd likely smack her.  I don't hit old ladies, so I left.  She kept at me the entire time I was walking out.  Finally I just yelled 'thanks' and was out the door.  Basically, she sold herself out of a customer.  Tomorrow I plan to call the state medical association and report her for practicing medicine without a license.  Her statement that some mysterious Dr. Schultz holistic person wouldn't agree that there isn't a real cause for my condition  just made it worse.  There is no doctor by that name here, so who knows where she is getting her info.  And who knows what she says in the nutrition classes she teaches.  She has just enough information to be truly dangerous.  And suggesting that people just improve their digestion when they may need real medical treatment is very negligent.  And they put their cell phone numbers right on their business cards so you can get them if you have an emergency.  A digestion emergency?  An emergency need for spirulina chips?  How utterly ridiculous.

New Year . . . New Me!

It’s a brand new year, with a chance to start over.  If the calendar can, so can I.  So with that in mind, my ONLY New Year’s Resolution is to be a new and better me.  I will see the positive side, not the negative side.  For example, I will gladly take the nasty smelling and tasting Lactulose because it helps me to stay healthy.  So buck up and drink it!  Although, I may still write to Qualitest (the manufacturer), and suggest that if they are going to make a medicine that looks, smells, and tastes  like antifreeze, they may want to try making a bottle that doesn’t look like a small antifreeze bottle.

I will not focus on what I cannot have, but focus on what I can have.  Who cares if I can’t have a big ol’ slab of steak or sprinkle salt on everything?  An herb-roasted pork loin chop is so much better.  And food tastes so good when you can actually taste the food, and not just salt.  Sorry, Sharon.  It isn’t ok to add salt just because you like the taste of salt.  Eating wonderful fresh produce is SO much better for me than grabbing a chocolate bar or cookie.  I'm more likely to grab a couple of cubes of sugar-free black cherry finger Jell-O.

I’ve discovered that I actually like a lot of things I grew up disliking, like asparagus, fresh spinach, horseradish, leeks, fennel, and pomegranates.  And I’ve always loved apples, oranges, grapes, pineapple, watermelon, and in the last few years, cantaloupe.  One of the biggest treats I have is keeping fresh fruit cut up in a container in the refrigerator.  So all you liver patients—break out your favorite shot glass once again.  And fill it with toothpicks!  Set that beside the refrigerator so you can quickly spear a couple pieces of fruit before heading back to bed, while you’re cooking, or as a snack while you’re reading.  In the Midwest in winter, fresh fruit can be expensive.  So try canned or frozen.  Right now I’ve got pineapple chunks and Mandarin oranges.  I just got the bigger-sized cans from my local Super Waldo’s (yes, their Great Value brand is as good as other more expensive brands usually).  The great thing about the pineapple is that it is generally canned in its own juice.  So when you drain the can, drain it into a glass and drink some delicious pineapple juice.  Or mix it with orange juice.  We always begged for the juice from the pineapple can as kids.  As long as she didn’t need it for some kind of green Jell-O concoction, mom would let us have it.  Yum!  And Sargento’s reduced sodium string cheese is actually wonderful.  Almost better than regular string cheese.  These are all things that I CAN have.  Nothing to feel sorry about there!

I will keep my feet elevated at work to further help prevent leg and foot swelling.  I will try to get as much sleep as possible.  I will be more patient (that’s a work thing).  I will thoroughly enjoy my lovely new (family heirloom) Broyhill chest of drawers with the cedar drawer boxes.  I will keep my card-making supplies in a more tidy fashion and not let them make a big mess everywhere in my house.  Especially the glitter.  I will overcome my addiction to glitter glue.  I will complete the projects I start.  And most importantly, I will enjoy regular foot spas.