Decisions, decisions...

I am faced with a decision that I'm having trouble making. Nothing life threatening, but still difficult for a person like me. Typically, I just wait until situations prove themselves one way or the other, but I'm not sure it will wait that long in this case.

Let me explain.

Currently, the financial situation in our lives is rather strapped. We've been on a single income for a while, but we're still making the payments and paying the bills with not much left over. Little luxuries (like dining out) are few and far between, but they are not taken for granted when they visit.

Background: I have recently been given what has been called birthday & Christmas money for this year. It is a generous balance to a beautiful set of necklaces found and given to my twin sister for her birthday/Christmas gifts for this year. [i.e. Mom found a gift that just 'called' my sister's name (a few steps more expensive than would be purchased normally) but she hasn't yet found something like that for me and decided to give me the cash equivalent - figuring I'd have more luck in the search. It's cool - we've done this for decades in our family.] It's not a huge amount, but it's enough that I would call it a huge amount. [Note: I'm the type to hold out for the 4-pack of t-shirts for $6 rather than buy the 3-pack for the same price.]

Foundational experience: Over the last 10 years, it's been common when 'extra' money has come our way, that we have shortly thereafter had some financial crisis that strips most or all of it away. [We've learned to call this God's provision for an upcoming financial need.]

The decision: 1.) Do I spend it on something that would be shared for our house (specifically, looking at a futon-couch for a spare room that we want to turn into a guest-room/library)? 2.) Do I spend it (with a slight addition of our own money) on a small lap-top computer (called a "netbook") for myself (everyone else in the family already has their own laptops, and it would be nice to 'run and play with the rest of the girls and boys')... and is currently on sale? 3.) Do I slap it into savings and wait for that financial hit that always seems to find it's way into our corner (which could start next Monday with my appointment with a new neurologist)?

It really is a toss-up in my mind that spins around in my head like a carousel. [Which is generally when I make "no decision" and wait while doing some research on the options... which is usually when the financial crisis happens.] My paranoia says to put at least part of it into savings. My desire to make comfortable and cozy places in our home says get the futon-couch and set up the library. My buried-deep "fallen nature" tells me to be selfish and get the computer. [Note: I have already found many ways to justify each choice with logic and reason.]

Ultimately, I know the decision is mine, but I would be interested in other people's thoughts, so I present this post.
----------------------------------
God bless & Godspeed

Caption this photo...

If you could put a caption on this photo, what would it say?


------------------------------

Caption this photo...

If you could put a caption on this photo, what would it say?


------------------------------

I hate migraines...

Thank God for Extra Strength Excedrin.

Saturday morning, I was enjoying a beautiful day and my first opportunity to do some significant house cleaning. After washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, I started clearing off a table that we haven't seen in months. [That squirrel's nest thing.] I was about 1/3 done with the table when I suddenly realized that part of my hand was missing from my vision when I looked past it. Not good, but after so many years, nothing to panic over.

This has become my 'first alert' signal that I might have a "classic migraine with aura" revving up to dominate the next several hours of my life. However, I couldn't tell if it was just visual residue caused by a sun-flash image from looking out the bright sunny window and then turning back to look at an unlighted table. I found that I couldn't tell by just shutting my eyes and looking for the source image, either. So, I had to go to my other stand-by: I use a piece of white paper (or a white wall) with even light across it and look for the visual disturbance. The white makes it easier to 'see' the beginnings of the kaleidoscopic arc that will confirm it for sure. [Waiting for the disturbance to get larger will also confirm it, but tends to make the headache worse for the delay. However, if it was just sun-flash, it would just go away.]

---------------------------------
If you'd like to know what my auras look like, display a white screen on your computer. Dip your finger in some water and draw a fat "C" on the screen (any size). That's pretty similar.
---------------------------------

Once I confirm the signal, I take some medication, find some place to sit down and ride out the process (with the hope that I got the medication in soon enough to head off the bulk of the headache that will follow). I'm really sensitive to medicines so I tend to take less rather than more, so I start with just one Excedrin Extra Strength tablet (or generic equivalent) and then wait. [Typically, just one will allow me to be functional. But I'll take a second one after a few hours if it's bad... like this one was.]

For me, it generally takes about 20 minutes for the aura to 'do its thing' from beginning to end (and the sunny day required me to wear sunglasses the whole time plus a few hours afterwards because of light sensitivity). I can't read or 'see' much of anything until it 'opens up' and moves to my peripheral vision, and eventually goes away completely. Then I get to deal with the headache and the after effects. Because I've never been a drinker, I have no idea what an alcohol hangover feels like. However, I have intimate experience with migraine hangovers. They aren't much fun and can last for days.

Alas, I should have expected it. Friday late-morning at work (thankfully right before my day was done anyway) I was subjected to what I call a "perfume hit". Sometimes I walk into what feels like a solid wall of scent (and I'll reel from it). This time, it was a pair of coworkers (a guy and a girl) who were both saturated with fragrance. When they walked by my work area, the scent hit me like a ton of bricks.

I tried using my fan as a shield first. [Stupid mistake #1 - I should have gone for the mask.]. I went for the mask second. [Stupid mistake #2: Already exposed for too long, I should have abandoned my work area with the first hit.] Then I made stupid mistake #3 and decided to just pack up and leave the office (overtime is only worth so much). Unfortunately, this also kept me ‘in it’ too long. By the time I got a note written and sent to the boss (following protocols), plus getting my machines shut down and my stuff packed up, I was shaky and no longer able to focus on any mental details (just not thinking good). I did have presence of mind on my way out to stop by some coworkers who know about my challenges to wish them a good weekend and to tell someone that I was having ‘perfume issues’ and that I was leaving for the day.

One of the things that I've learned via my neurologist and my experience, my migraines (classic or Bickerstaff's) do not always happen on the same day as the triggers. Little time capsules that can build, diffuse or break at any time.

...and that can be so annoying.

[Side-note: I'm very glad that I have an appointment on May 4th with a neurologist that will get me some professional documentation of the reality of my perfume triggered migraines for my employee records. Whoa, I'd better stop there, or I'll start venting on a story that has forced me to walk-on-eggshells since the beginning of February (to prevent any excuse for further wrongful harassment accusations to be brought against me). I may eventually share some details when/if there is some resolution, but I want my blog to be for sharing things that lift the spirit or educate the curious... not for dispensing personal vitriol.]
------------------------------
Until we meet again...
Godspeed & God bless

The 'Tail' of the White Weasel: Part II

Thursday, February 17, 2005 (PM)
...originally emailed Friday the 18th.

Thursday was a challenging day from start to finish. The easiest part was indeed the doctor's appointment.

-------------------------------------
[Small medical interlude with my neurologist: What I was told was going to be a lumbar puncture ended up being a discussion of options. Whew! We discussed my symptoms and the results of my tests. The MRI films did not show any physical abnormalities or degenerative diseases, and the EEG did not show any seizure type afflictions. Whew! The doctor further mentioned that the spinal tap would pretty much only be used to test for a variety of MS that does not show in MRI scans. So, the spinal tap has been put off until further notice. Whew! So, we will be trying to see if we can find a medication that will help. He called it: "Throwing mud at the barn and seeing what will stick!"]
-------------------------------------

...Now, back to our "tail":

To refresh our memories (or for those joining this story for the first time), Hubby and I discovered a white weasel in our kitchen cabinets Thursday morning. We were unable to catch him before we had to leave for work, and hoped that he would find his way out. He didn't. Or, did and came back.

After my doctor's appointment, we were scrambling for time. Hubby had to be in Superior for a church committee meeting at 6:30pm. At 75 mph, we got home at 6:30pm. He dropped me off and bee-lined for the church (another 10 minutes down the highway). Enter here, "the White Weasel". [Heretofore affectionately named: "Rocket".] I went into the house and turned off the alarms, unloaded work stuff, then called Mom to touch base about my appointment. While on the phone, I heard that familiar noise coming from under the sink. Ending the phone call (with the promise of an update), I peeked under the sink and found a blue Walmart bag writhing in the cabinet. 'Rocket' was snacking on a pasta noodle package. I put on my leather gloves and attempted to take the bag and all its contents outside.

If you have ever seen the movie "Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones", where Yoda shows his prowess with a lightsaber, you may have an idea of what the next half-hour looked like. By using a mop as an arm extension, I was able to keep 'Rocket', the greasy bolt of white lightning, confined to the living room. He was amazing!

He was leaping off of (or under, or behind) every chair, the couch, the video rack, the bookcases, the plants, the lamp, the computer, the printer. Sometimes darting as a white streak, sometimes arching his back up like an inchworm and crow-hopping across the floor. [I understand this is 'weasel intimidation'. It didn't work.]

'Rocket' also managed quick tours of Hubby's briefcase, a tissue box and a few garbage cans. I was suddenly thanking God for our dark blue carpet (having for years grumbled at every black shoe that I would stub my toes on), because Rocket's shiny white fur was very visible against it. I could watch his progress around the room and I could easily see his nose sticking out from under chairs ...checking to see if I was still standing there.

During this time, I had the door open and was trying to gently direct him outside. A few times I nearly lured him into reach by scratching the bottom of a paper bag or the bottom of a cardboard box. [See folks, it's not just for cats anymore!] By 7pm, I was giving up. My stamina for standing was wearing out, I was dizzy and I needed help. I called the church to have Hubby come home. [This was a major trick if you picture me with a mop in one hand, guarding the weasel, trying to look up a phone number then dialing the call.] Mercifully, Hubby came straight home (his meeting partially completed over the phone afterwards). However, a minute or two before he reached the driveway, Rocket finally went out the front door. HALLELUJAH!

Having talked to my wildlife-biologist brother-in-law (Thanks, Bro!), he warned that once weasels have a way in, putting them outside won't stop them. I immediately started to find ways to block the opening under the kitchen cabinets. Cookie sheets were my best option, but not a very good one. Hubby came in and he had a much better plan. By 8pm, with his carpentry skills, we had a barrier of oriented strand board covering the access. [Note: We discovered that the builders of our home did not finish the inside of the cabinets and there was a large 'doorway' from the under side of the cabinet giving free access to the kitchen.] Refinements to the barricade will be made this weekend.


After cleaning up our mess, I began to clean up Rocket's mess. He seemed to have taken a fondness to the food packaging and the coffee filters. There were coffee grounds everywhere inside the cabinets. We laughed - not only did we have a weasel loose in our house, we had a weasel on caffeine! Yikes!

The only low point was Hubby's heartbreaking disappointment at not having an opportunity to catch the weasel himself. Rocket would have been a greater challenge than the baby chipmunk, or 'Zippy' the Chipmunk who were rescued from our furnace last summer.

Ah, the joys of living in the woods! And so ends another chapter in two sagas. Barring changes in medical conditions, or weasel howitzers blowing up wooden barricades, things should be quiet for a while. I hope!


My thanks for sharing in these little experiences with us.
Happy Friday!

Thank you

-------------------------------------

Until we meet again...
Godspeed & God Bless!

Chipmunk story #3 ?? - Nope, not this time...

Thursday, February 17, 2005 (AM)

Seven months later…The "Tail" of the White Weasel (part 1):

It began as a slow morning after broken sleep (night sweats will do that). The routine began. While [Hubby] was in the shower, I began to make my lunch. I started by cleaning up the counter a little and throwing away some used plastic wrap. As I made my lunch, I heard the sound of plastic moving. Ah, the plastic wrap was unfolding in the garbage. Nothing to think twice about. Finishing the lunch packing process, I stopped. The sound had moved. It was no longer under the sink. It was under my work-area. This was something to think twice about. Tapping the cabinet door, the sound stopped. Unsure quite what to do, I waited until [Hubby] got out of the shower to announce that something 'alive' was under our kitchen cabinets. I monitored the sounds while he got dressed. After a bit, I realized that it didn't sound like mouse noises. It sounded bigger and faster. This was closer to chipmunk noises.

I peeked into the cabinet under the sink and something launched. I slammed the door shut and convinced myself to start breathing again. I didn't actually see anything but the white garbage bag... or so I thought at the time.

[Hubby] and I donned our gloves and flashlights and started slowly opening cabinets. The slow and careful emptying of the cabinets of griddles and small appliances ensued. [Hubby] spotted a flash of white. It was not a chipmunk. Much larger, much faster! It was a weasel!

[Actually, greased lightning on little feet was what it was! Wow! We thought chipmunks could move fast!]

At one point it had hunkered down at the base of the garbage can and was watching [Hubby]. It didn't seem afraid. It even arched up on it's back feet to get a good look at [Hubby], so we got a good look at it, too. Intense black eyes, pink ears and all white fur (tail and feet). I can imagine that this must be where the 'snow snake' story got started with its long, thin tube of a body and intense staring eyes. I'd never seen one up close before. It was really quite a beautiful little animal in its winter white coat.

It lost interest after a little bit and [Hubby] tried very hard to approach slowly and corral the critter, but it was a flash of white and it was gone again. Mind you, it is now 6am and there is just enough time for [Hubby] to get his lunch packed and his uniform on before we have to go to Missoula.

As such, this story is "to be continued". We didn't catch it. I imagine (and hope) that it will find its way out along the same path that brought it in. However, we will do a search for it after my doctor's appointment this afternoon... and before [Hubby] has to go to a church committee meeting at 6:30. Alas, never a dull moment... and few moments of rest in between.

P.S. A name for our little "ermine" has not yet been chosen.

P.P.S. This could be a blessing in disguise. Where there are weasels, there won't be any mice!

--------------------------------------------
Side note: The doctor's appointment was a meeting to discuss the beginning of treatment options for what has since been diagnosed as a complex form of migraine called "Bickerstaff's Migraine", which causes me to have bouts of dizziness (lateral shifting of equilibrium as opposed to 'spins') that, at that time, would go from mere seconds to weeks on end.
--------------------------------------------

Well, my time is up. Until we meet again...
Godspeed & God bless

Sharing a story: Chipmunk Rescue #2

Less than three weeks after our first adventure…

------------------------------
July 16, 2004

Good morning - Last night, [Hubby] and I had a repeat performance for a chipmunk in the furnace air-intake pipe. I will let you know that as of 9:45pm last night, the ladder is no longer leaning against the house and the roof pipe has been inspected for future preventative modifications.

Our tale (or is that tail?) is a little different this time. Although I had been almost asleep for about a half hour, this story begins the same as the last one, with my ears picking up on an unusual sound that didn't change when the fan was turned down to a lower speed. [Hubby] was relaxing with a game on the computer, so I went out and reported that we had livestock in the furnace again. Fortunately, we had not yet replaced the torn gasket on the furnace housing so it was quite easy to remove. With gloves on, [Hubby] reached in to gently grab the critter - yes it was a chipmunk. We noticed this as it launched itself up [Hubby]'s arm and across his elbow to dart like a bullet down the hallway. There was no option to put it in the bucket (which would not have held it without a lid of some sort, anyway), this was an adult chipmunk... and boy can they JUMP! And the chase was on!

Our first reprieve came when the chipmunk went dashing down the hall and took a left instead of a right. It cornered itself in a cardboard box that was lying on its side (for recycling). If it had gone right, it would have gone towards the kitchen and the front of the house. Now cornered, [Hubby] (who was laughing the whole time) tried to catch it. 'Zippy' was our new name for this little creature. It eluded us and I knew something was up when I heard [Hubby] say: "Oh, no you don't!" It had detoured into [Daughter]'s room and nearly went under the bed. [Hubby] got there first. Picture, if you will, a wad of striped brown fur squirming out of [Hubby]'s hands and bolting for the other end of the hall - our bedroom. 'Zippy' cleared several obstacles including a pile of laundry, but maintained a straight line. This was our second reprieve. It hid behind a board that was leaning against a wall and stopped. When it darted out again, [Hubby] got it cornered between the tub and the vanity cabinet. [Hubby] stood up with a huge grin on his face: "Isn't he cute!" As his hands were full, I lead the way to the front door.

Another successful 'catch and release'. At that point we put on shoes and did the roof inspection and ladder removal to disarm our too-effective chipmunk trap. Returning to reassemble the furnace housing, we found out (bummer) that our 10 day stay in Missoula had resulted in a casualty; another adult chipmunk... mostly dry, but still stinky (yuck) had fallen into our chipmunk trap. After everything was cleaned up (and disinfected), reassembled and quiet again, we were both very grateful that this all happened before it got really dark outside.

Happy Friday!

------------------------------

Well, my time is up. Until we meet again...
Godspeed & God bless

Sharing a story: Chipmunk Rescue #1

Although I could share a host of trials and tribulations, I think I’d rather share something lighthearted instead. I actually have a series of similar events that I documented via emails to friends and family. The first of which is copied to this post. Because of my inexperience with the protocols of internet courtesy, I will substitute names in [X] to protect the innocent (or in future segments, the embarrassed). Enjoy!

------------------------------
June 28, 2004

[Hubby] and I had an interesting event happen Saturday morning at 6am. For me it started as a bit of a panicky event, but (for both of us) it turned out to be a very special event.

You all know my love for the mice that occasionally get into the house (i.e. dead in the trap is the best way to find them). Well, I heard a noise that sounded like a critter in the bedroom. [Hubby] had just turned the fan on, so it was possible that it was a plastic bag twitching in the breeze. Rather than stressing out about it, I got up to look. No plastic bag on the floor... noise still evident. I moved into the hallway and stopped. The noise was coming from the furnace. I won't tell you the thoughts I had at that moment, but [Hubby] and I set out on an expedition. We got dressed and gloved up with the expectation of a panicked mouse (all fur, teeth and claws) bolting from the furnace when the panel was opened. I even had a bucket ready to catch the thing.

We opened the panel really slow. Nothing. But the sound continued. The critter had somehow gotten into the air intake vent on the roof and fallen all the way down to the burner. It was trying to climb back out and was sliding back down every few seconds. Finding tools, [Hubby] started to open the panel that accessed the burner and the air intake pipe. We saw a nose... then we saw stripes. It wasn't a mouse. It was baby chipmunk! He was SO CUTE. He wasn't two inches long in the body and the tail might have been another inch or so long on its own. We tried to coax him out but he wouldn't come. [Hubby] asked if we had any sunflower seeds. I checked and we did. I dropped a few kernels in the hole and the little guy stopped moving. He was eating. We sat very still with a little dish of seeds next to the hole. He still wouldn't come out. I stirred the seeds and dropped another one in the hole. He ate it. Finally I got a seed in my finger tips (no glove... you try to pick up a sunflower seed with a glove!) and slowly waved it at the edge of the hole. He looked at it and I held it to his nose. He took it ever so gently out of my fingers. It was sooooo cool! I've never fed a critter like that before! We played this game for a little bit longer while [Hubby] figured out how to remove the burner. It came out easily (thank God) and [Hubby] was able to reach in (with gloves) and gently pick up the chipmunk. We tried to put it into the bucket, but it would have none of that. It held onto [Hubby]'s glove like Velcro. We tried to gently push it off and it would crawl up the back of his glove... then the front of the glove... then the back of the glove... When it was finally clinging to the palm of the glove, [Hubby] gently cupped his other hand over the chipmunk and we walked him outside to the driveway. Setting it on the ground it immediately ran under the Vit [i.e. our Suzuki Grand Vitara]. A few seconds later, it dashed under my car. It was obviously in familiar territory again.

A happy ending, indeed! [Imagine the story that it would tell its siblings... and the trouble he would get from his folks!]
------------------------------

Well, my time is up. Until we meet again...
Godspeed & God bless