I Tried...

...to come up with something eloquent and original to say about Robin Williams. And I've failed. Indeed, perhaps the most eloquent tribute to this man came from his daughter, Zelda. Find it here. And read it. She's a stunningly clear-eyed young woman. 

I can, however, say that I was shocked to find that he was in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. My FIL died from that disease. It's a bugger. My FIL was a musician, mechanic, raconteur.... And Parkinson's stole that from him. I don't know what makes a person have this disease or not. The doc speculates that FIL was exposed to a lot of heavy metals. He was in the Army Air Corps way, WAYYYYYYYYY before OSHA and any reasonable safety standards. He worked around heavy machinery and aircraft all his life. Was on the Pipeline for years. Toxins abound in those arenas. 

But no real answer to the "is it genetic?" question. Believe me, I asked. 

For a person who's prone to depression and whose mental state is precarious - or not even precarious, but perhaps not necessarily (why am I having such a hard time formulating this sentence???).... Let's try again.

For a person who's in a fragile mental state, a disease like Parkinson's is truly something that shakes your already shaky core. It's a horrible, HORRIBLE disease. And while there are great strides being made, most people who have this will die a nasty death. 

My FIL was one of the lucky ones. He took a nap and never woke up. Seriously, no ill-timed jokes here. He was in the nursing home. The doc had just been to visit. He was going to have dinner, and it was about a half hour or so prior to the trays being brought. He was napping. And thankfully, he just slipped away. It was a peaceful death. 

I don't know much about living with a terminal condition - other than watching others do it. But I can honestly say that I think I can imagine the angst and the fear. 

And maybe that was just "one more thing" too much for Robin Williams. Thanks to The Internets, his memory will remain eternal.

Health...

Speaking of "conditions" - my labs came back. Urgh. I am definitely anemic. "Normal" iron levels are around 35 - 119... Mine is 19. The nurse says, "You must be weak and tired." Well, tired, yes. Weak? Not so much. 

Sooooooo - doc says 325 mg of ferrous iron supplements THREE TIMES A DAY. Not gonna happen. Let's just say, to be polite, that that much iron will turn me into an INCREDIBLY crabby woman. Particularly due to the effects that'll have on my digestive system. 

So I found a supplement at the natural foods store, that they say is "not constipating" (there - I said it). And I'm taking Vitamin B supplements. 

And I guess I'd better learn to make liver... I have it in the freezer. But it was set aside for the dogs. Luckily, I now have permission to eat dried fruits like prunes (which I really do like, by the way). 

We shall see how this all turns out. It does make me wonder what's underneath all of this. Iron deficiency can be the cause of irregular heartbeat. So was all this heart stuff "fixable" by adding more iron? Or did they find the anemia because of fixing my heart?

It's a puzzlement. 

Knitting...

Yes, it's Teal Sock #2. And yes, my system of "knit on this awhile till you can truthfully say you've made progress" is working. I have about 2" to go till I can start the toe decreases. 

The Fluro sock is still in the realm of "gusset decreases" and the baby blanket is coming along. The "ladders" aren't as bad, but it is, after all, 100% cotton, so there's no fudging this one! I'm hoping the added ruffle cancels out some sins. 

I got word from Jimmy Bean's that the rest of the yarn is in transit. Then, I can start on booties, then hat, then cardigan -- going from smallest-to-largest project. 

Oh, and my LYS just FB'd that there's MORE of the Opal "Little Prince" colorway. You're killing me, Kelly!!!

Raisa...

Well. I'll be dipped... She did it! Hubby and Raisa made it through Advanced Obedience. Next week is the CGC. Sometime in there, I have to go to the AKC and register her as a PALS dog. That's a pure-bred dog without papers. We did it for the Elkhounds, so we're doing it for her. 

At some point, I'll go forward with the TDI test. But I think at 11 months old, it has strong "disaster potential" and I'm toying with whether I should wait or not. 

I can tell you one thing. She's not going to stand for "dress-up" like Tippi does. She's not liking the hat, and the last headband I tried to get her to wear? It almost got eaten. 

But I can see that, as she gets older, and a bit calmer, she will do well in therapy work. She just has to mature a bit. And we're not in a rush. Tippi's only 7 - we have a long time till we have to worry about a trade-off of dogs. Actually, with Raisa, the longer we wait, the better it'll be anyway. I can take the time to socialize her a bit more and get her used to my handling her. We've had complications what with my recuperation, etc. so I haven't been handling her as much. I need to get her to take walks at MY pace and get used to MY style. It's all a work in progress. 

I'm sure it'll happen, and I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm also sure that the first several walks will be ... interesting. 

She views walks as a time to catch deer and play around. Not on my watch, thanks! But she'll get used to it. She's a very smart cookie. Right now, it's covered in puppy-stupid, but it's there. If you watch. 

And there are days you NEED to watch, because that mind does NOT stop whirling!

Art...

So here's the story to match the picture: River Weaving -- I've been wanting to get a picture of this, so finally Hubby and I stopped before church to grab a shot. 

It's not Native American fishing devices. It's not an anti-pollution device (though it does catch a lot of stuff that's floating by). It's nothing functional, folks. It's art. And it's cool. It's just sitting there, for the most part, and it's just "being." And in our daily 24/7 lives, with so much "connectivity" and always being "plugged in" -- well, this is unplugged at its finest. 

Come down, find a bench, sit and watch the ducks. Shut your phone off. Enjoy. Yes, you'll hear traffic, but buy yourself an ice cream cone and sit and contemplate the canal, the ducks, the weather. Just "be." 

Like art. 

Random Picture...

And then there's "Not Art"...

Really??

From the sublime to the ridiculous, right? Had to laugh because two FB friends are having an "ick" war. One keeps posting these antique ads, showing "fine dining" and munchies from the 60s and 70s (auuuuuuuuuughhhhh - antique???). These things include the finer points of spam on toast, ham with fruit cocktail (yeah, that picture), etc. 

Yessirreeeee... Those folks in the swinging 60s sure ate a lot of crap. Jello with stuff floating in it like shrimp and apple slices. All kinds of cakes, Bisquick casseroles, a jelly ring with cucumber slices for dipping?? Ick. I don't know. But it's gross. 

Lunchbox

So anyhow, MA has been grossing out D and I - so I just had to have Hubby take a picture of a gag gift he got this past Christmas. 

See, he's in computers. Spam. Get it?? Well, apparently, our friend thought it was funny. Hubby, a practical sort of guy, is kind of "Huh???" but I think this is cute... And now MA has to have it. And she can't - ha ha! The only thing missing is the thermos.