So Guess What

The UTI is on the wane, but I woke up this morning with very slight pain behind my earlobes and down the back of the jaw bone. "Holy cow! Do I have an ear infection now, too?" I called the doctor's office and made an appointment for this afternoon. The doctor looked in my ear and said, "I can't see anything." "Good," me thinks. "It must be clear." No. He couldn't see the inside of the ear because it was clogged with wax. (I know, gross.)

In came the medical assistant and gave me an ear wash. It was FABULOUS, better than a day at a spa. And the best part is I'm not deaf anymore. Once the ears were clear, I could hear like I did 20 years ago and the good medico could see inside. He confirmed an ear infection, which apparently I caught from Kris.


The spunky MA, who restored my hearing with warm aural libations, came back in and stuck me in the derriere with a needle full of stuff to make my golden Levaquin tablets target the ear as well as the urinary tract. Now that's what I call good living through chemistry!

OXO

D.

Danger, Danger! Organ Recital Warning! (And a Very Clever Oscar-Night Reference)

So, I took Kris to the doctor -- well, actually to the nurse practitioner as you can't get in to see a doctor until after Saint Valentine's Day. (Yes, I know that's a year away.) She has an ear infection. This particular strain of flu seems to bless twice. Many we have talked to have had the flu followed on by sinus infections or ear infections. I am the only one I know who has a UTI. Swell!

Kris was clever enough to start the penicillin she used in England for her fungal toe. I thought she would get a stern lecture about self-prescribing and medicating, but the nice nurse thought it was good she had started. Happy surprise! And it turns out that the English penicillin is a good fit with her bug and she now has a few more American pills to add to the mix. The penicillin was bargain-priced compared to the gold-filled Levaquin I had to purchase. I am pleased to report that she is feeling somewhat better tonight.

I have been taking my $85-an-ounce Levaquin faithfully, and thankfully it is doing the trick. (At that price it better work or there will be blood!). Levaquin has a frightening list of possible side effects (though luckily no mention of greasy stool or death). With my health anxiety I am particularly subject to feeling every nuance of difference in my state of well being from one moment to the next. I have had some tolerable side effects listed in the prescription information sheet. But a couple were listed under the category of "CALL YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS." My gosh! They were screaming at me in BOLD type.

Katy listened patiently as I explained my concern. She lovingly told me I was insane (anxiety is a mental illness, after all), and said I should just get over it; the warning is just the big rich pharmaceutical company covering their hiney. Because I am passive aggressive, I smiled, said she was right, then hid in the coat closet and called the doctor. He said just keep taking the gilded tablets and call him in three days. Yikes, I could be dead by then.

I have to admit that I want to be fully healed in these three short medicated days, but no such luck. It no longer feels like one is passing razor blades. It is more like passing sand now. So, I still spend lots of quality time with the Kohler ADA-approved Highline, Comfort Height, two-piece, elongated toilet.


I stayed home from school today, not because I felt lousy, but because I couldn't make it though two 1 hour 15 min. classes. Making the situation even more perilous, there are no toilets in the west end of the Joseph F. Smith building where I teach. Talk about poor planning!

Well this is probably way too much information, but there you go.

OXO

D.

Some Kind of Miracle

It was a miralcle. I went to the doctor today. I hadn't been there in over 6 years. The flu slacked off and then came back with a vengance, or so it seems. Many years ago I had a UTI and remembered how lousy I felt then, and after checking symptoms online, decided I needed some help. The tests were positive and after spending $15 on a copay, and $85 on pills, treatment is underway. The instructions that come with the prescription are very frightening. The only thing I can take with the pills is Tylenol. Hopefully the pills will have their effect fairly soon and the pain relievers can disappear.

Sorry for the organ recital.

OXO,

D.

I Hope We Can Recycle

With Anna's excellent awareness-building program, I have become keenly aware of our responsibility to do our part in reducing and recycling waste. The idea of built-in obsolescence is beyond maddening, but our HP printer died over a week ago. I spent several hours "chatting" online with an HP tech (one may only talk to a tech on the phone if one's printer is brand-new) who ran through every possible protocol, trying to resurrect our machine. "I regret to inform you that your printer can not be fixed, but we would be happy to send you a new printer at a discount." Well, thanks all the same but I think I'll look around. This was our second or third HP printer and none has lasted longer than a year.

 
Saturday, while shopping for groceries at Costco, I purchased a new Canon MX310 all-in-one copier, printer, and scanner. Now please understand that I have no delusions about Canon versus HP; I am certain that both are committed to built-in obsolescence. My fondest hope is that the new printer will give us at least a few months of service.

I have been searching the internet for a place to recycle the old machine and believe I have found a Utah group with a drop off point in Lindon that will take it. The Ogden company is called Stone Castle Recycling. Visit their website here. I hope they are legitimate. What do you think?

Anyway, the new printer is working fine, at least for now. I am, however, pessimistic at best.

OXO

D. 

Quite a Weekend

I have been stricken with the creeping gomboo and since the first twinge have been treating myself with Zicam.

That seems to have made some difference, but has caused the gomboo to creep rather than rage. It has quietly come very slowly, one symptom at a time. Fortunately, the malaise has not stopped me from functioning. (It's a Taylor thing: "Get up and get going and you'll feel better.") In fact, on Friday evening we joined Hank and Colette and their local children for dinner at P712. It was, as always, delicious. 

 Sunday I was well enough to go to church and teach the 3rd J.S. lesson and well enough to make Sunday dinner.

On Saturday morning, Katy awoke with a raging case of the same junk and had to cancel all her plans for temple and an outing with the Hastings, which made her very sad. (Emily has been stricken as well.) We three gathered around the fire and began a Lord of the Rings marathon which continued into Sunday evening and will probably finish today.

Kris is feeling edgy because, so far, she has escaped the nastiness but is rather sure it will catch her at some point. This hasn't been a very festive way to spend a holiday weekend, but at least we didn't have to be anywhere.  Thank heavens for Robitussin and Ibuprofen! 


Here's hoping you all are well.

OXO

D.

A Visit From Debra Sue

On Thursday, 7 February, Debra Sue Darling Gibbs arrived in Provo for a weekend visit. She was in Utah for Alison's birthday and we partied hearty. Lots of good food, lots of talk, and lots of unrestrained mirth.

Dinner at La Casita on Thursday night

Dessert at Maestro's in Provo - mmm gelato!

The sunset on Friday was spectacular

Group dinner at the beautifully remodeled Christopherson home - they have a 

mission call to the Brazilian MTC in Sao Paulo

Deb brought Alison from Logan on Saturday and we had 

dinner at the Bombay House

The ladies enjoyed several amusing videos on YouTube

Alison in her new birthday outfit poses with Katy after church on Sunday

The chilluns enjoying Sunday dinner at our house

Brian, Katy (ie?), and James Brown from Houston joined us for dinner

It's also Meagan's birthday this week and there was lots of yummy cake

Grammy and Clara 

Alison and Katy being cute in hopes that someone 

would take their picture - it worked

Clara leans into Holden in a most affectionate manner

Phillip, Dickie, and Jayson taking up all the space on the sofa

The chilluns quietly playing train - it was so quiet we 

thought there must  be something wrong

It was a very fun weekend with friends and family 

and Photo Booth captures the mood

It's not over yet. Deb took Alison back to Logan and will return to Provo for one last night before she flies back to Houston and her New Beginnings night.

OXO

D.

Tricky Business

So we went to vote. They had combined a bunch of districts and made them all vote at the BYU Conference Center, which was PACKED! We waited for over an hour to cast our ballots -- it was very poorly organized.

Well anyway, I wanted my vote to count, which it generally does not in Utah. I knew Mitt would win here and collect all the Republican delegates. Obama is predicted to win here, but the Democratic primary in Utah is not winner-take-all and I want Mrs. Clinton to get as few Utah delegates as possible. Consequently, I wanted to be able to vote for Obama. That would make my vote count.

The problem was that we switched from "unaffiliated" to Republican in the last primaries so that we could vote against Chris Cannon. We assumed that we were now registered as Republicans but hadn't had the foresight to change back to unaffiliated before these primaries. When we finally reached the place where they check names, we discovered that we are (for whatever reason) still unaffiliated and could choose a Democratic ballot, which we did!

It was tricky business, but our vote counted.

OXO

D.

Groundhog Days

Happy Groundhog Day weekend to you all. I believe the Utah version of the groundhog would have seen his shadow yesterday, so we are looking at a bit more winter if you believe in that sort of thing. Six more weeks of winter isn't a happy prospect because I have never shoveled so much snow in my life -- at least that I can remember. I shoveled two inches this morning before church and came home from church and shoveled at least four more. I enjoy it in a way, but it seems like a few days between storms would be nice.

Friday we finally got to have some Thai food at the Bangkok Grill in Orem. We had tried to go the Thai Ruby last month but it was closed. I liked The Bangkok Grill very much, but Kris thought the food was a little perfumy. Afterwards, we went to Tom and Katy's for ice cream and then came home to watch the 3rd Bourne film. That series is so good, especially compared to MI3, which we watched last night.

Yesterday we watched President Hinckley's funeral and then went to IKEA to return some rugs and have a quick run through with Katy Kathryn. We bought some meatballs, gravy, and lingonberry sauce to take home for supper. On the way home we detoured past the Draper Temple project. It is impressive but several of the homes in that area are beyond belief (in a bad way). We thought of all the wonderful things that could be done with the millions of dollars such immodest houses cost. We drove over the mountain to Alpine and managed to make an adventure out of a trip to IKEA.

Ice cream at the Taylor's

The Draper Temple taken on Katy's phone

How high will the piles go?

A Sunday portrait with Katy courtesy of Photo Booth

I tried a couple of new settings on the camera (low light and snow to be specific) and the photos are a bit pixelated. Sorry.

OXO

D.