$40 Million Dream

The other day at work my co-workers and I were discussing a sports star two year forty million dollar contract and what we would do with that kind of money. Of course there were the normal dreams of big houses and travel and kids' college funds. One lady wanted to start a foundation for underprivileged kids. But it got me to really thinking-what WOULD I do with that kind of money?
Besides making sure my nieces and nephews were taken care of and college bound/paid for, my bills paid off, and make sure I never have to work a "real" job again, this is what I want...
I am downtown Johnson City alot. While roaming the streets I run into the homeless. Contrary to what people believe these homeless aren't mental, druggies, or criminals. There is a large veteran's hospital here in Johnson City. For the most part these homeless are veterans coming here to the hospital for help and just have no where to stay. The local shelters just do not have enough room or resources to deal with them all. With $40 million I could buy up some houses around the hospital and turned them into places for them to stay, staffed with caring people. And set up a foundation to keep it going. It is only what they deserve.
Next, set up a annual donation to the arts for kids programs in this area. Children need to be exposed to the visual arts, music, writing. Studies show that they do better in other areas when they are.
Another thing I would wish to do is buy up one of the old abandon warehouses downtown and convert it into studios for artists who have no place or little space to work. Believe you me, this is an issue for me as my house is quite small and I would love to do larger works. The is an excellent college near by-East Tennessee State University-with a great arts program, but I bet most of the arts students don't have much space to create outside the classroom. Just the thought of a large warehouse space filled with artists of all ages and styles exchanging ideas, critiques, info, and coffee makes me shiver. With delight. And, of course, there will have to be a gallery space to show all that work.
If there was anything left over I would want my own gallery to show my and others' work.

Ok, done dreaming. Time to start the laundry. And a new painting.

Luvs and happy creating!

An Answer, At Last!

So, this week I have been to the ER twice and had the EMTs out to the house three times over Mom's bleeding. She keeps breaking open and bleeding badly from her arm shunt. Of course, the good doctors could not tell us why or what to do to stop it. I was told to just keep a bandage on her arm, get up at all hours of the night to check it, and hope for the best.

WT.......?

That's our medical system for you. I bet if she had the name of one of the uppity families around here she would not of been sent home with a "oh, well".

So I went home, took all her meds and vitamins and went online. After an exhausted search I finally found the culprit.

Aleve.

That's right. Plain old aleve, or napoxen. The side effects are prolong bleeding, bruising, abdominal pain, diffeculty breathing, plus some more, but these were what Mom was dealing with. So I took her off the aleve (myself, too). Then I looked up Tylenol. It was not much better. So no painkillers for either of us. I just hope this takes care of this problem. If not I will have to cancel my vacation plans and I really don't want to.

I guess she and I will have to learn to like pain. Maybe we can get jobs at Madame M's House of Pain.hehe

How To Cure The Blahs

I have been feeling kind of blah lately. Fatigued, tired, drained, apathic, stressed, bored, depressed. This is so not me. I have always been a happy person. I thought that maybe it was just the winter blues and the return of warm weather and sun would take care of it.

Well, they didn’t.

So I went on a search for a cure for feeling this way (chocolate can only heal so much and Starbucks treatments can get expensive.). I found some interesting facts. There is a chemical called Serotonin that the body needs to maintain feelings of well-being. As well as Dopamine. I asked my mom’s doc about them when I took her for a visit. I was told that they cannot be found naturally so there is no supplement to take for them. The only way to get that feeling was with anti-depressants. So not for me. So I went to the Natural Foods Market (http://www.NFMonline.com) and asked one of their associates. He confirmed what the doc said.

Not to be discouraged I asked for his advice. He recommended 100mg of Rhodiola Rosea once a day to start and increase to two or more a day if I feel the need.

Rhodiola Rosea is found in the high cooler climates such as the Rockies, the Alps and the Carpathian Mountains (I just love saying Carpathian). It can help with mental alertness, memory, and a general state of well-being. Side effects are virtually nil unless it is taken in large doses.







Serotonin deficiency

Anxiety or excessive worry
Panic, fear and phobias
Pessimism
A tense state of mind accompanied by irritation and impatience
Obsession
Suicidal tendency
Repetitive thoughts
Low self esteem
Emotional behaviors like anger and aggression
Insomnia or light sleep
Craving for sugar
Post menstrual syndrome
Chronic pain
Abhorrence of dark weather


Dopamine deficiency

Reduced ability to feel pleasure
Flat, bored, apathetic and low enthusiasm
Depressed
Low drive and motivation
Difficulty getting through a task even when interesting
Procrastinator/little urgency
Difficulty paying attention and concentrating
Slowed thinking and/or slow to learn new ideas
Crave uppers (e.g. caffeine/nicotine/diet soft drinks)
Use these to improve energy/motivation/mood
Prone to addictions (e.g. alcohol)/addictive personality
Shy/introvert
Low libido or impotence
Mentally fatigued easily and physically fatigued easily
Sleep too much and trouble getting out of bed
Put on weight easily
Family history of alcoholism/ADD/ADHD


I feel like I have a little of both sets going on and I hope this herb will help me. I just started them, so we'll see.

Idiot Doctors

The past two weeks have been kinda rough around here. My mother has been in the hospital twice during that time. She kept telling everyone something was wrong, but none of the health professionals could find anything. Her doctor( a complete moron in my opinion. He needs to retire.) would just look at her and walk away. He told the hospital staff to just send her home as the was nothing wrong with her. My mom would sit and cry because she felt so bad. My mom does not cry. So I knew something was wrong. The second time I took her to the ER I told them not to call her regular doctor. Then we gave a detailed account of all her systems to the attending ER doctor. We must of lucked up this time, because instead of ordering the regular blood test, he ordered a blood oxygen count test. Turned out mom had less than half what was normal. 52% to the normal 98%-100%. So she is home now hooked up to an oxygen making machine, with tanks to take with her when she goes to dialysis or out. She says she feels alot better now. She's sleeping all night too instead of sitting on the side of the bed trying to breathe.