And the winner is ?

It happened again.  The winner was the cute guy who wasn't bad, but didn't compare to Ms. Bowersox.  I don't know how to spell her first name.  We watched all two hours of the final program and wondered why they brought all of these old groups and performers on.  I think one hour would have been good.  The goodbye to Simon I felt was appropriate.  The productions involving this years contestants was to sell tickets to the Idols Tour.  If it weren't for Brooke's interest over the years I'm sure I wouldn't be involved in the show.  I think it is better that I do know something about today's culture. 

Will the show survive without Simon?  It depends on his replacement.  I think I've seen enough of the show and especially Ryan Seacrerst, Ellen and the other female judge.

I keep thinking of Gabe dancing in front of the TV last week end.  He is so close to jumping, as the children in the video are doing.  He just can't let go of contact to earth though.  He will go up on one foot and quickly alternate feet in this position.  I know how he feels.  I didn't want to jump with ice skates on or on a bicycle.  I'm sure he will learn to leave the Earth's surface soon.  

When listening to my Ipod the other day I was surprised to hear myself on there.  A couple of months ago I recorded a sound file on the computer entitled Relaxation I.  It must have been loaded on the Ipod when I updated my music.  I turned it up and listened, following the instructions brought about the desired result.  The  file is to be used to help someone get used to relaxing by following this method, then they will more easily be able to go into a deeper state when they come back to my office which is The Sidebedroom. 

Still here

Thanks Emma.  Mom has been out of commission since you guys left.  These colds really hit her hard.  I have the cold too, but so far it's not so bad.  I've been trying to get the house and yard in some order.  I feel so out of control lately.  Problems with the cars, health, lawn etc.  I only hope this isn't the way so many people feel all the time.  The hedges are trimmed however and if you happen to drive by the house you will be impressed by the symmetry of the corner yew.  I think, for the first time in modern history, that bush doesn't look as though it's leaning over.  I also called John Beach to come and remove the big tree in the back yard. Jman called on Sunday and I asked him if he wanted me to take a picture of the tree before it is taken down and he said no.  They have their tickets for the wedding though and he wonders what he can wear.  I  thought if he just had a shirt and tie it would be okay. 

I'm feeling the cold symptoms so this is about it.  The vitamin K2 may be working.  It's easier to walk the circuit with Luke.  Thanks for checking in.

Medical update

This may be of interest to many of you.  I returned to meet my new surgeon at UofM Hospital yesterday.  I printed out three pages of a Doctor's blog post that discussed the possible benefits of using vitamin K2.  My new guy wasn't interested in it at all.  I gave it to him to read and he took it.  His take is that for many years people have been coming up with ways to get rid of the calcification and none of them have worked.  Even if we could get the calcium out the valve would not be like a valve that had not been calcified.  The damage would not heal.  He may be right but I am sticking with the vitamin and am also going to follow at least some of the recommendations from Dr. Ornish's program.  It can't hurt and before the operation I'll have another echo cardiogram that will show any change from February of this year. At that point I could wait another six months or so to see what happens.  There have been only 7 instances of this particular operation performed at UofM hospital in the last two years and Dr. Haft has performed all of them.  The two hospitals where quite a few of these are performed are in Indianapolis and Baltimore.  We may go to one of them even though I don't feel badly about being number 8 in Ann Arbor.  The chance of survival is about 93%. 

I found the video of Dr. Ornish on line today and if you have the interest take a look.  He has done so much work on this in a scientific way, you'd think it would get more recognition.  He's not a great lecturer and the program isn't presented in a commercial way.  If you have any health concerns it is definitely worth learning about.

I do feel better, even with my half-measures for the last three weeks.  We could all meet here for yoga and emotional support.  Wear loose fitting clothes and bring-your-own-mat.


We need to get it in gear for wedding preparations starting tomorrow.  Best wishes to all.

Dr. Dean Ornish: Healing and other natural wonders

Hops are transplanted

The weather looks pretty good for the next week so I decided to transplant the hops.  Centennial is most easterly, Chinook is in the middle and Cascade is westerly.  Westerly is toward Leroy Street. I sprinkled water on them and said holy words over them .  I may have baptised them, anyway I sure hope they do well. The picture doesn't show it but Cascade is about a foot long. I wrapped it up the cord Jman provided. There are also three marigold plants out there keeping them company.  

We went for a walk again this morning and found some items at a local garage sale that we were looking for.  Two Little Tikes slides and some free Irises.  Gabe looks at almost every truck or car that passes.  Sometimes he waves.  

That's all the good news for today.

Morning walk

Hi all.  It was a beautiful sunny morning today, and Brooke, Gabe, Luke and I went for a walk.  Gabe really enjoys being outside.  He practically was running to keep up with the rest of us.  We had to stop to look back every once in a while.  I don't know why.  Maybe to remember where we had been.  There are many points along the way to perform the rituals of past walks.  Sit on a rock.  Get tickled by a bush.  Splash in a puddle.  We met another dog along the way and a young mother with a three week old and an older boy approximately 3 years.  The sky was so blue the trees and grass so green.  My advice?, "take a kid for a walk."  It also slows the walk down so it's easier for the old folks.  Brooke had to carry Gabe for a while though, at the end.  Just a little while and then he finished strong.


If you have ever watched My Favorite Martian, it's really fun(to me) to watch these old TV shows again.  They are so fresh and innocent, G-rated in retrospect.  I like to notice the styles of the time and the technology of the time.  The TV sits on one of those old metal stands that can be wheeled into viewing position.  The phone is a land line.  The rug is an American Indian style.  Fun to watch and nostalgic for us older Americans.  Who knew we had it so right back then.  I'm also watching an English series called Wire in the Blood.  That's not bad and I just think it's great to be able to get these from the library.  


Sorry I haven't been writing much lately.  See you soon.

unknown

We go into the unknown. This was the beginning of my last post and I don't remember if I had any point at the time.  I do know that I just wanted to post something and was called away.  I titled it unknown as a temporary title but now, what the heck, it's okay.  I went over to MSU Surplus just to get away and maybe find a nice bargain.  I bought a box of 150  test tubes for $5.  Didn't want to leave empty handed. The car wouldn't start as I was trying to leave.  The Jimmy was having this problem lately and I thought it was a water in the gas problem. I walked to a Quality Dairy about a mile away and got some gas treatment.  I put it in and waited a while for it to take effect.  It never worked and as time went on I had to deal with the fact that they locked the parking lot up at 5:30. I got some guys from Libya to push me beyond the gate, so I sat there in the rain waiting for the car to suddenly work.  I had no cell phone and the location is pretty remote.  Across the street, there are several dumpsters where people leave their assorted recyclables.  Most were women and I thought I would frighten them if I approached with a story of a broken down car.  When the rain slowed and there was a family over there, I tried starting one more time, and got out and walked over to the young couple.
They were very friendly and let me call home.  No one answered so I left a message and went back to my car.  Five minutes later, the nice family was back.  Brooke had called them and they drove back out to let me use there phone again.


Brooke called Patrick O'Brien, an old boyfriend of Emma, and he was glad to come and pick me up and take me to Days Inn.  This motel has a pool.  There were religious groups there and A business group of some kind.  I had a cup of tea and watched TV from bed.  I had gotten cold in the car so it felt good to warm up. Someone pulled a false fire alarm at 3:45 AM so sleeping was interrupted. 


I had to call for a wrecker and garage on Saturday. So it wasn't until about 2:30 PM that we got back home.  


This was a minor inconvenience compared to many of the life changing things that lurk in the unknown.
For example, an ambulance was called to the Days Inn to take one of the motel guests to the hospital.


Have a good uneventfull day.

Other species

We just took Luke for a walk. It's been a day since his last walk and we feel quite guilty if we don't take him.  He just enjoys it so much.  He does understand something about the "Heel" command.
Not fully, but something.  The plants are really coming into bloom around the neighborhood.  This inspires one to start planting hops and tomato plants etc. 

On the other hand there are species I am trying to control and defeat.  The dandelions are having a heyday out in our front easement. Ray and Gloria called that area between the street and the yard, "the easement" and properly so.  It sounds like a place where one can ease ones way onto the yard without using the driveway.  The dandelions love it because they aren't hassled there so much.  It belongs to the City so we home owners don't think of it quite as much as what's closer to the house. I'm going to use Weed Be Gone-Max on them.

There is a certain variety of hornet that likes to live in the wood of my hot tub.  They have a yellow "jacket" or more like a vest, with a large black bottom.  They bore through wood.  I've been spraying plus trying to kill them with a tennis racquet.  They see you standing there.  They are great hoverers and very quick.  I've killed  about three.  They are tough. You must hit them and then smash them.  I don't hate them but if they keep living in the Hot tub it will have to be repaired.

If one of my golfing buddies reads this, call me.
Dean, Rickey, Chris? Are you out there?
  

When you get desperate, come and see me.

Hi y'all!  We went out to Javon's First birthday today.  That is Saturday, May 1st., 2010.  I think he liked me.  The wife said she would make macaroni and cheese for the occasion.  We had all the ingredients and things were progressing nicely in the kitchen.  We have a galley kitchen and after a small incident(not a cialis moment) I said just pretend we're in a submarine.  Then things went splendidly. That is until we found out our starting time for the party was an hour later than the actual starting time.  I turned on the convection function of the oven and turned up the heat by 25 degrees F. That's F-ing hot.J*.  Since I routinely keep a spare oven in the garage, I had an extra oven rack to use for transport of the mac and cheese serving trays.
All went well.  Javon is a beautiful boy and seemingly poses for the camera.  He ate his cake neatly for a one-year-old.  What a great party.  There were things provided for everyone there.  Toys and candy for the kids.  A nice variety of food and drink for the adults.  A nice house for a party, too. 
Misty had asked me about my plans for a second surgery and I was telling her about the Ornish program that I was reading about.  Another reveler said her Mother and Step-Father had gone on the program for a year about two years ago.  They lost weight in the range of 30-40 pounds.  The other benefits were not discussed, but nice to hear of recent information.  I've read only 25 pages or so, but I'm very interested in the program and this doesn't even include Vitamin K2!  A great majority of the people in the test results had a reversal of artery blockage.  Wow. This could be my future, personally and professionally.  Try this recipe, Matt Langdon.

PEACH BREAD PUDDING
6 peaches                      1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
2 C. skim milk               1/2 C. app juice conc.
1/2 tsp salt                      juice 1/2 lemon
1 lb loaf stale sour dough bread
1 tsp amaretto                6 egg whites ..beaten not stirred.
Blanch, peel, pit and then dice the peaches, set aside.
In large bowl, mix together skim milk and salt. Tear bread into 1 inch cubes. Mash bread into milk and let soak for 15 min. Have a glass of wine.

Use another bowl to combine the amaretto(or?) nutmeg, applejuice,lemon juice and peaches.  Add the beaten egg whites. Add to the bread mixture and toss gently.

Pour into nonstick 9-10 inch square pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 deg F. for 45min. or until set and browned on top.

Have another glass of wine and enjoy the pudding served warm.  Low fat low calories.. I can hear my arteries opening now.

Talk to you soon.