Making lists

I like to make lists; some are things I want to do within a certain time frame ("this weekend"). Others are ones I want to accomplish ("upholster dining room chairs; put together wood-and-iron bench"). My best thing is to list what I've already done along with items I want to do ("handwash, other items to drycleaner; coin wraps to bank; cats to vet"). It feels comforting.

I also use a multitude of blank books to make these lists (gardening, cleaning, projects, editors' association, diabetes issues/challenges, sundry expenses, decorating ideas and plans). I'm glad I have a house to hold them all...

Catch-up with items and more...

My two youngest fools (Fiasco T. Peabrain and Handsome Stranger) were packed into the carrier this morning and driven to the vet for their annual checkup. Since all my four cats are indoor items, my vet agreed to restrict their shots to rabies (3 years' duration) only. We had a nasty story about puppies at a "flea market," sold to unsuspecting owners, that died from rabies this year. Anyone who touched them had to get rabies shots. The mother of the pups died from rabies last year after a fight with a rabid skunk. Gee, and they couldn't guess?

I refused to sort out Peabo and/or Handsome poopies from the five litterboxes to bring in samples, but they (the poopies) don't deviate from the norm. But the kittens (so termed to distinguish them from the older girls, who USED to be the "kittens") both have gingivitis, which I could see from the reddish lines on their gums. It's only about 950 CAD to to treat them both in the next month... AUGH! Both the boys are just under 10 lbs, quadruple their weight from their initial visits. All the cats eat only Medi-Cal preventive formula.

Earth Hour (March 29, 2008, 8-9 pm) is gaining ground in this city (Toronto) and around the world. I can't do much more than I usually do (power bars off, compact fluorescent bulbs everywhere possible, cold-water washes and limited electric clothes drying).

The Toronto Star suggests not using the car for a week. Two years ago I didn't use my car for two months, so the parking brake froze. I had to call a cab to get me, a box of used books, and my laundry to where I wanted to go. The taxi driver told me how to fix it for free (take off the wheel covers and bang a two-by-four with a hammer against the rims). I already take public transit nearly every day (and get a good tax deduction for buying a TTC monthly pass).

Google's adsense is making some money for me, but maybe not this year ($1.17 so far).

It's snowing in Toronto. Again.

It's not heavy snow---yet. And my wonderful neighbour Rh and her son Ri helped me dig my car out of its snowy tomb on the cross street this afternoon. It took about half an hour, and I skoffed a parking space on my own street that someone else dug out, only about 100 m from my house. The city of Toronto has promised to actually remove the snow from blocked side streets off the main intersections. On Saturday there were two police cruisers and two ambulances parked right in front of my house. The EMTs and officers were wandering around saying, "This is CRAZY." They didn't seem to be attending anyone. But there's one lane only, due to the snow, and one cruiser and the EMT's SUV had to back down the street to turn around.

There's a church at the end of the street too, that has very limited parking and a large congregation, and a Value Village at the top that people visit regularly and who refuse to pay for parking, so sometimes all the spots on the street are taken up by non-residents.

TMI: I had a bad dream about my colon exam (barium enema). I think I'm mostly scared of the laxatives. I booked two vacation days to deal with preparing for all that stuff, and another to attend a level 2 DM education clinic. Augh! I also need an opthalmologist exam (takes up half the work day) and a talk with the endocrinologist. And I need more folic acid and unsaturated fats in my diet according to RealAge.com; also to reduce my resting heart rate... OOOOHHHHMMMMM.

Vinyasa flow yoga: Attended only my second class on Thursday. It was difficult. Last week I intended to go after my physio-rehab appointment but forgot my equipment and clothes. Needed? Not necessarily. But I was wearing jeans. Not stretchy enough.

Diabetes Education: Not to criticize the older folks (of which I am rapidly progressing to be one) but the last level 1 diabetes education clinic I attended that was booked by my doctor (for about 15 minutes) was peopled by elderly (average age 70) patients who didn't really understand what DM is about. "Well, if I can take a medicine to fix the high blood PRESSURE can't I take one to fix the high blood SUGAR?" Well, yes, you can---if you also get some exercise and stop eating all the sugary crap. Eyes, feet, kidneys---all failing. (I'm on that path if I don't get it together.) But I walked out after those 15 minutes -- I need MORE! I was the youngest person there by at least 20 years and I had been Dx'd at least 9 years. So I need someone to do my thinking for me.

Cats: My two youngest fools (Fiasco T. Peabrain and Handsome Stranger) are booked for their "wellness" exams next Saturday. They're the feral or near-feral kits I picked up off the street in late 2006. Since they don't go outside or interact with street cats, I don't want them to have vaccinations, but it's hard to argue with the vet. I'm cheap, that's why. If I adopt the hoary old guy that lives on/under my front porch they'all ALL need vaccinations.

BG Mecca! for some unknown reason...

Fasting blood glucose was 5.5/100 this morning, for some reason. Not much exercise yesterday. I took a good hit of NPH insulin before bed, after a good breakfast in the a.m., then noshing on Chinese treats a co-worker brought in, a light lunch, then a binge on fresh fruit (melons, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi) left over from a corporate meeting, plus two cookies and three mini-cinnamon buns. Then I had some pecans and other nuts instead of dinner.

One of my frailties is eating too much in the evening and before bed on a regular basis. So I need to eat earlier and get busier in the evenings.

That goddamn steam iron

I got the non-wanted Tobi (oops. Should fix that) handy steam iron on Wednesday, and put it together on Friday afternoon. I did try to cancel the order, from less than one minute after I accidentally submitted until several days later by e-mail (for which they promised responses within 72 hours) and by telephone. Here's the last e-mail I got:

Dear Karen Black, Your order xxx from Tobi has been shipped! Shipping date 2008-01-28 Box Number 1: Tracking Number xxx You are receiving this email as a receipt of purchase from Tobi. This is a one-time notification in regards to this purchase only: you will not be receiving any further emails from us >

Well, it was a bitch to put together. I should probably have turned the lights up. Or read the instructions in sequence. Or drunk less wine. However. I do not have any actual blisters from hot steam on my hands, and I did get nearly all of my blouses and linens ironed on the night I used it. And, yes, I did have to get out the iron and board to touch up collars and hems and button bands. It does work well enough in smoothing out your basic laundry wrinkles, but I will need practice in fine-tuning those details. Maybe I can give lessons in time. I will charge a lot.

I used a half-container of steam to soften kitty poop stains on a couple of pieces of furniture, and I have to say that the subsequent upholstery shampoo treatments did work better than usual. And I believe they do smell less bad.

Doctors' visits (to them, not to me)

My annual physical was Friday. I'm menopausal, diabetic, trying to reduce my meds and gain muscle weight, watch my cholesterol, get fitter (first by walking daily for 30 minutes, taking a yoga class for 2 hours a week, then by playing badminton, and once I get stronger and more flexible practicing Karate). My blood sugars are BADDDDD, but if I am disciplined with diet and exercise and meds on schedule I can get them down (so why don't I). And my blood pressure, outside the doctor's office, is 11o/70 (this is good, by the way).

Also, I'm as weak as a kitten (except I can't scratch the hell out of the furniture). Since my doctor now knows that my maternal grandmother died of intestinal cancer I now have to get a small-bowel screen as well as a colonoscopy. And my physio wants me to get an Xray on my right knee to be sure I just have a slight inflammation and not incipient osteoarthritis.

I found a $10 bill on the sidewalk this weekend! Hoo-Rah! I make a good living and don't have any debt but mortgage, but I'm not ashamed to bend down and pick up a penny or nickel.

Please define the following terms: Backer rod. Contact cement. Water control valve. Staple. I have not been able to get a hardware store person to send me to the right department using any of these terms. Are they really strange?

Dark rye bread: I had some in a restaurant on Friday for a late breakfast following my fast and appointments and exercise. It was yummy. So I had some again this morning. It's very dark bread (black-coffee dark) and I had it with fruit salad and two scrambled eggs. Until I googled Dark Rye Bread recipes I would never have guessed that cocoa powder might be an ingredient---from a tablespoon to a quarter cup, depending on the recipe.

Glucosamine-Chondroitin-MSM: I found a liquid on sale. It's tangerine flavoured and very yummy, which persuades me to keep taking it three times a day for the 60 days it needs to be effective in reducing joint deterioration.

Black cohosh: One source says it's contra-indicated for diabetes. Another source says it's a hypoglycemic. Since it seems to promote periods I don't take it (I want to stop having menstrual periods). But who the hell knows for sure!? Anyway, I have a beautiful mature black cohosh plant growing in my back yard. It's a native North American species (you can get one at www.richters.com).

My Coin Collection

I sold my last coin collection on eBay a few years ago, on a whim. I asked for the same price it cost me: $1.98 (except I listed in USD instead of CAD. A woman bought it for her husband, and she paid $1.98 US, plus shipping). Here's my latest accumulation:

This one tallies $3.46 Canadian. Many are valid Canadian or US coins---like the Georgia peach quarter (1999) and the Liberty anniversary quarter (2001). There's a Cypriot 20-something piece I got instead a loonie (Canadian dollar coin), a beautiful Dutch 25-ct piece that came in my change as a 10-cent piece (dime). My favourites are the two Trinidad and Tobago one-cent pieces with the hummingbird. (Two!?) There are coins from Australia, Philippines, Bahamas, Barbados, UK, and Slovenska Republika. The oldest is a 1937 Canadian one-cent piece, with George VI. I also have a QEII one-cent piece from 1956, my birth year. And last week I picked up a Canadian centennial penny (from 1967; the one with the bird which I forget what it is). Last year I picked up a very small aluminum coin from a depressed Eastern European republic that looked exactly like a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) token (worth about $2.50 per ride at the time, now 2.75 or so). I think I tossed it, or I would include it here.

I haven't sold anything on eBay for a long time. My family started giving their "valuable" items to sell (the inscribed books dating from about 1892 to 1920 and the music sheets from the 1920s to 1940s did make quite a bit of money for my mom's church). And my brothers' items that they took from our uncle's "estate" brought in a few hundred dollars, which was surprising.

After looking at the Dutch coin I got to thinking about our Canadian designs. The Dutch coin is stylish to say the least. The image of Beatrix is more impressionist than representative (I can go through my Canadian coin jar and find at least 3 updates to QEII, the latest with jowls and wrinkles---nothing like the wild and sexy horsewoman I saw once on a Caribbean paper bill).

Canadian 25-cent pieces (AKA quarters) represent whatever is happening in Canada for the year and there might be several issues. They're all basic MOR art, in my opinion---an inukshuk (which we know only as lawn decorations here in To.); war vets and the young'uns; skiers (for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics). You could hang them over your sofa. Sometimes there might be something Indian, but again it's symbolic---nobody's doing anything about education, health, housing, employment on the reserves.