Wedding Update

My dress has arrived at the boutique! I have an appointment next week to have it fitted and tailored.

The invitations are here, but they won't go out until middle of August.

We are forgoing the catering, and instead my sister, two sisters-in-law, three nieces, and myself will be doing the reception food. We're just doing light hors d'oeuvres before the cake, so it really won't be that big of a deal. My sister(s) kept telling me that it was ridiculous to hire a caterer for such a small wedding, especially when we're all really good cooks. Besides, they said they'll do the clean up too, so that convinced me.

I've also been registering for a few gifts. We really don't need much, but my Mom and best friend said I have to register or people will be confused. So sheets, towels, a few kitchen items (like a really cool dual espresso and coffee maker), that sort of thing. What we really need are yard and garden things. I wish Lowes still did wedding registries, but they're discontinuing that as of the end of this month.

Next, I have to find some hot shoes to rock that dress.

On a side note, I really messed up my back yesterday, and now I'm pretty much immobile. I can hardly walk, and can only sit a certain way. It really hurts. Feels kind of torn and it burns. I've been taking some hydrocodone, which helps, but I really need a muscle relaxer. My right hip is higher than my left hip, and my spine is starting to kind of draw up into an "S" shape. I hate this. I can't get anything done this way. I'm just stuck   >:-(

What Would Buffy Do?

My Dad is home from the hospital. I'm not sure he's really well yet, but the doctor insisted he should go home, however we're going to see a specialist he was referred to at the soonest appointment available.

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Meanwhile, I have a pondering post. Can you believe it???!! I'm actually thinking about something introspective and reflective (sort of)! I'm so excited! I kind of feel like the old, thinky-too-much me. Must be the bubble bath and two and a half glasses of wine :)

Anyway....Here's my thought. I'm watching a seemingly cool movie. The Abyss, which was made in 1989 according to my Tivo menu, but I'm just now seeing it for the first time, because in 1989 I was probably dancing and partying and running around with some loser guitar player.

So anyway...I'm really digging this movie. I don't know if it's the military aspect of it, the danger, or the tough chick played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, or what, but I really like it. It's been a long time since I've randomly found a flick and got excited about it.

Or maybe it's the wine and the relief of being able to take a bubble bath and lounge on my sofa for the evening...

But you know?....I think it's the tough chick thing. Most of the movies I like, or most of the TV series I like, have a kick-ass, tough, leader type of female lead in them. Think Linda Hamilton in Terminator II, Sigourney Weaver in Alien, Demi Moore in G.I. Jane, or Jodie Foster, or Holly Hunter... Those are some of my most favorite actresses. And don't even get me started on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because I was obsessed with the Buffy series, and if you haven't really watched it and followed the plot, then you have no idea of the underlying themes of redemption, duty, honor, and responsibility that it was all about. The Buffy series is nothing like the movie.

I'm not much into the stereotypical chick flicks. Give me an action flick with bombs, wars, fighting, and raining bullets anytime. I was surprisingly in love with the Sex and the City movie, when I finally watched it on Tivo one night, but I never would have seen it in the theater or anything. I had no desire. It seemed so typically shallow. But when I watched it because there was nothing else on one Saturday, I found myself truly relating and loving it.

So...I just wanted to tell you that I'm really liking this Abyss movie.

Ok, I have to take the TV off pause now and finish my current glass of wine too.

Back in the ER

Ok, so now Dad is in the hospital. I took him to the emergency room yesterday morning, and they admitted him last night. Kidneys and prostate stuff. After checking on Mom this morning I'll be spending the day with him today.

Meanwhile, my oldest brother and his wife are playing tennis with their delta country club crowd, and my sister and her husband are touring a Missouri winery this weekend.

*big frustrated and bitter sigh* :-/

You know what?

I think I just might stop by the Krispy Kreme this morning. Dad's a book reader like me, and I'm taking him some books. So maybe we'll just read and eat donuts today.

I haven't totally disappeared

I have been in kind of a dark place for a few weeks. I guess the old broody, dark side of me is still there, hidden deep inside, but still there. It made a scary appearance this time. I'm not quite out of it yet.

I guess I just figured that coming here and posting about my family was rather lame, not to mention uninteresting, so I've just kept quiet. Everything else seemed so trivial and time wasting to write about, though, so I just didn't post at all.

Mom is ok. She's home and doing some out-patient treatments. The blood transfusions worked wonders. I knew they would. If the doctors would have just done it back in March, like I thought they should...

She has more energy now than she's had since early last fall, which is the last time they hooked her up. They are going to be doing bone marrow tests in two weeks, though.

Dad got sick while Mom was in the hospital, mostly stress and tiredness kind of sick. He's fine, though. They're both resting a lot these days.

The Captain will be here June 2nd, and I really need him. We have a friend's 60th birthday that we're going to attend, and he's meeting the rest of my old gang then too.

And then I'm going up to Washington and the boat trip on July 1st. Independence Day weekend is a good time to sail away, don't you think?

And that's about all there is to say. I guess I've been kind of depressed. I really have no reason to be. I should be happy now, right? But whatever. I'm probably just being a brat about not getting to do what I want, when I want. I was really looking forward to that boat outing the past few weeks. I'm trying to keep myself busy with house and home projects and helping my parents, but I'm having trouble focusing for very long.

God, this is pathetic. See? This is why I haven't been posting or coming here. I knew I would be horribly pathetic, and I hate that. I'm tempted to hit "delete" instead of "publish", but I guess I need to put something on here. No need to comment. I just wanted to respond to a few of you who inquired on previous posts.

I want to get on that boat and sail far away to where it's really quite and deserted. Just me and the Captain, with some books, music, wine, and sunshine. Maybe seeing some whales and dolphins and seals. Just drifting on the water for a long, long time. No time limits or phones ringing. I'd like to take my pets, though. I wouldn't want to truly run away without them. However, that wouldn't really work on a boat.

Damn, life is so impractical to fantasies.

By the way....I really dig the new American Idol. His performance of this song was so sigh-worthy.



UPDATE: - Damn Youtube. I hate that !*#!ing place. Here's a link to a site with the vid. I can't find the embed code, though, cause it's in Japanese or something.

Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

Take Your Vitamin D!

    Excellent article here about the effects of vitamin D, how it boosts the immune system for colds and flu, and how we now get much less of it through natural ways since we're not in the sun as much as we used to be.

Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D

I take a lot of vitamins, about 12 different supplements a day. I always take them with food, though, to get the best absorption.

- Regular multi vitamin
- Calcum
- Iron
- Super B-complex
- extra C
- extra D
- Zinc
- Potassium
- Omega 3 fish oil
- Evening primrose oil
- Glucosamine with chondroitin
- Melatonin when I have trouble sleeping

Two books that changed (and are still changing) my approach to health and wellness, and my views on the medical business:

The Sexy Years - by Suzanne Somers

Breakthrough - by Suzanne Somers

I've read every book she's ever published. I always figured she was nothing more than a fluff piece, but when one of my best friends was diagnosed with breast cancer, she became very interested in natural health and recommended that I read The Sexy Years when I ended up having a couple of biopsies myself in 2006. Turns out that Ms. Somers knows her stuff about hormones, aging, eating healthy, and how the government, FDA, lobbyists, and pharmaceutical companies are totally steering us toward what makes them the most money as opposed to what really keeps us healthy.

Hey, Wine Commonsewer - What kind of vitamins are in red wine? I'm betting you already know and have proof that it's healthy ;-)