One More Time

I'm off in a few minutes to what I hope is my last doctor's appointment for a while. I've been feeling a little less exhausted since Sunday. By that I mean I get winded and need a nap after walking 5 minutes, not two. I'm not sure what my doctor's going to do with that, especially since I still have my lovely cold. Yes, after 10 days of anti-biotics and 7 days of Singulair, I'm still sick sick sick. And tired of being sick. I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep for a month or so.

Evidently I'm Not "Just Lazy"

So, I went to the doctor's this morning and she thinks I have mono. They took an awful lot of my blood and she put me on all kinds of medications "just in case". Evidently I'm much sicker than I thought I was. That's the problem with fatigue. You may be really sick, but you just don't care. All you want to do is sleep.

If I haven't been calling you back, returning your emails or responding fast enough - sorry. Hopefully I'll be feeling better in a few weeks.

Getting to the Bottom of This

Judging from my past blog entries, my current issues with fatigue started March 8th and have been around in varying levels since then. Right now the varying level is high. I'm exhausted and am having a hard time sitting up at work.

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with my doctor to try to get to the bottom of this. Hopefully she'll do some blood tests and I'll find out what's causing the problem. More importantly - how to fix the problem. My parents are arriving for a visit in a week and I have a major work event at the end of next week. I simply HAVE to get energy back. Right now there's no way I can have house guests. Don't know quite what to do with the situation.

Substance???

In looking over my blog on the weekend I realized I've had very little of substance lately in my blog. I assure you that it doesn't mean I've gone all shallow (I was there to begin with) and have had a couple of good deep conversations lately. However, my thoughts always seem to be in the process of forming and they never seem ready to write down. Also, I seem to have a sinus infection. I'm sure there were a few days of health in between the Great Flu of February and the Sinus Misery of March, but right now I don't remember them. Add to that a healthy dose of "too-much-work-to-do" and you get my life.

A couple of things:

- The Caregiver Kit project is wrapping up this week. Still some details to nail down, but it looks like we'll have lots of kits. We're doing a big celebration on Sunday.

- With the Caregiver Kits project coming to an end (at least part of it), I'm left wondering where the stage 2 vision is. Of course, right now I don't think I'd recognize vision if I tripped over it. Unless of course it came in a box of Kleenex. Then I might find it.

- I've discovered an interesting new blog: http://www.heisatthedoor.com/wordcast/
He tries to be controversial, but there's a lot of good teaching in there.

- I've determined my good humor is dependent on my consumption of sugar. Check back with me after Easter.

- Storkbryt thinks sugar is evil. Ha!

- I have to figure out what to do about vacation this year. Originally I thought I'd go to Seattle, but that seems less likely. Don't know whether to go up to Canada or try for something more exotic. Or, save the money because I'm clearly heading to Africa sooner rather than later.

That should bring things up to date. I'll let you know when I start thinking again.

An Inevitable Result

For the last couple of weeks I've been VERY stressed out at work. Too much to do and too much criticism of everything gets done. It's frustrating for me. Plus, it's always hard to constantly be working in "emergency" conditions.

Today we had an important event and ..... surprise, surprise .... I'm sick. Nothing too serious. A cold (though my sinuses hurt) and nausea. My body's way of saying "Enough is enough". Time to catch up on sleep and take it easy.

Did You Know???

Mohegan Sun is having an exclusive pre-sale on Heaven and Hell tickets?

I swear I didn't see the word "pre-sale" anywhere in Revelations and I just finished reading it. I also didn't know there would be tickets. I got the idea somewhere that there was a book. With writing in it.

I'm also a little sketchy on how Mohegan Sun got the exclusive on Heaven presale tickets. Hell.... well, yes, I can see those going through a casino. I'm a little surprised about Heaven though....

Time to go to bed!

Are You Paranoid If.....

I was pretty disturbed at this news this morning. Yes, to the outside world it might seem like the not-so-surprising expansion of the American Idol franchise into summer camps.

What disturbs me is that this is on the campus of Northfield/Mt. Hermon. This is a school that was founded by Dwight Moody. From the website:

When Moody founded the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies (1879) and Mount Hermon School for Boys (1881), he selected students who were talented but came from impoverished backgrounds. As he did in his revival campaigns, Moody drew his students from all over the world, from all over America, and from every race.

Dwight Lyman Moody died in Northfield on December 22, 1899. Condolences were mailed and wired from around the world, and an estimated 3,000 people were on campus during the day of the funeral, held on December 26 in the Congregational Church. He is buried on a hill called Round Top on the Northfield campus, the site of both his birth and death.

I know that there were other options for this unused part of the campus, including an international missions center.

So, a school that was set up by Moody with the intent to fuel international revival and missions is now being used to fuel "American Idol". Hmm.... no, that's not disturbing at all.

I've always been torn about American Idol. The name always makes me cringe. But, then there are some people that have come out of it who say that they are Christian and have released Christian (or crossover) music (Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken, for example). Then there is the Canadian Idol who took a stand and sang "I Can Only Imagine" on Canadian network television. It seemed like God was playing a good joke by using American Idol to allow Christian young people to talk about their faith on popular television.

But this just really hits me the wrong way. Somehow it just screams of the work of the enemy. Laughing at the godly tradition of this place and twisting it.

Back to "Normal"

So, I've started eating real food again. Last night I had a sandwich with a little turkey in it. Nice and bland. Ease back in to life. Still no sweet tooth, but I'm considering that a plus.

Today I have a lunch meeting at a nice restaurant and I have to choose something I think won't irritate my body. What do I choose? Crab cakes. Yes - those fabulous nuggets of crab, peppers and whatever else was in there, DEEP FRIED and then dipped in a spicy mayo. That sounds reasonable. I have no idea why I ordered them. So far I'm not sick again, but it's clearly not due to any common sense I might possess.

New Pictures

While I've been off dealing with Nasty Virus '07, I've been working on left over pictures from Soulfest last summer. Here are a few of them.


Third Day


Kutless

Never Ending Nausea

I thought I was feeling better. I thought I could return to real life.

Not so fast. Now I'm nauseous again. Argh!

While I appreciate the time to work on pictures from last summer, I'd really rather be on my feet doing normal stuff. I'm hoping tomorrow brings a normal day!

Or.... Not

I had big plans for this weekend. Today was a big work conference. Tonight a big prayer event at church (and I'm leading) and then the weekend sleepover/retreat with my small group. Lots packed in, right?

Except that I woke up at midnight violently ill. Like really violently ill. Haven't even been able to drink water since 9 pm last night. Not good.

You'd think I wouldn't be so cocky about big plans after reading this in James 4 the other day:

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

So, it looks like a "quiet" weekend here. Yuck. I hate viruses.

Allergic too....

I'm sitting at my desk miserable with my nose running like crazy. This allergic moment came on suddenly and with hayfever like intensity. So, I thought back to recent occurrences of this phenomenon:

- going through a long online ethics course for work
- listening to my boss talking about way off topic subjects for long periods of time
- lying in bed not being able to sleep

My conclusion about the trigger? Boredom. I'm allergic to being bored, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

Disappointment with Jack

So, over Christmas my brother convinced me to try 24. I got back from Christmas sick, so it seemed as good a time as any to veg in front of the tv for many many hours getting addicted. I watched all of Season 5. I finished about a week and a half ago - just in time to start hearing the hype about the new season. I would jump out of my chair in the first 5 minutes. I wouldn't be able to breathe for 2 hours.

So, I watched the two hours last night. It was good. It was gross. It wasn't fantastic though. No cure for cancer. No world peace. He did kill a guy with his bare teeth, which reminded me of that vampire movie he did in the 80s with Julia Roberts. At one point I found myself in the kitchen while it was on. Clearly it had lost my interest and I wondered away. Too many implausibilities. Too much violence. Too much blah blah blah. Not enough Jack.

Networks - Please oh please stop exaggerating. The premiere was good, but it didn't change television forever. All you did was make me think, "well, that wasn't spectacular". 24 is a good show. Let it stand on it's own merits. Please don't turn it into ER - the most outrageously dumb teasers ever.

Moving a Little Faster

Thanks to all who have been praying for my health. I got a good night's sleep last night and am feeling more myself today. Still slower than usual and in more pain, but at least I'm moving now.

Getting Slower

Well, it looks like the flu isn't really the flu and is actually fibromyalgia. This means 10+ hours of sleep a day and spending the rest of the day in a haze and hardly being able to move. Not fun. I don't normally get sick like this in January, so I'm struggling to understand the point of being unable to function when I need to do so much.

Sorry to those that went to the 268generation.org website and missed Beth Moore's talk (they are only up for 24 hours). Right now there are talks by John Piper and Louie Giglio up. I haven't heard either, but I'm hoping to catch them tonight.

Have I mentioned that I'm addicted to 24? Thanks Bryan. I needed more things to compell me to keep me sitting on my couch. It actually wasn't such bad timing since I've been sick and can't really move much.

Speaking of sick/fibromyalgia/and generally moving slower and feeling out of it, I might have to slow down on the updating of the blog. I'm barely functioning, let alone being interesting and don't have a lot of spare energy. Hopefully I can kick this thing quickly. In the meantime - pray!

Better or Better?

It's amazing how I can feel fine when I'm at my house and even start feeling guilty for staying home when I'm not really sick. Then, I go in to work and within an hour I'm at death's doorstep again. I feel awful and the afternoon has only started. How can I be so tired when all I do is sleep?

Luckily my catch up has included reading two week's worth of Dilbert cartoons. That part is easy. Actual catch up is going to be much harder. Especially if I don't get rid of this bug!

In other news, run, don't walk to the 268 Generation site to see Beth Moore's talk from yesterday morning at the Passion conference on Humility.

Don't Miss Out

The Passion 07 conference started last night. I'm particularly interested in this year's conference because of their "Do Something Now" project that includes work with many global ministries and impacting Atlanta while they are there. Each person attending brought a towel and socks for the homeless shelters in the city because Louie said that when 15,000 followers of Christ decend on a city they city should know they are there. Cool idea.

Anyhow, for those of us not able to go to the conference, they are streaming the main sessions on their website. Just go to ENTER and then Watch Passion 07 Main Sessions Here. They are up for 24 hours each (so, the one up right now is last night's session). The sessions are about 2 hours and include the worship and the talk each night. Right now I'm an hour in and the worship has been amazing.

Speaking of missing out, I'm still sick and at home missing out on everything. Well, I guess not everything. Instead of doing work I'm watching Louie preaching, so it's not all bad!

Miserable

Got home last night feeling pretty bad. Thought if I got a good night's sleep I'd be set to take off this morning. The fact that I had trouble getting up the stairs to bed probably wasn't a good sign. Got up at 5:30 this morning and realized that this just wasn't going to happen. Coughing, nausea, fatigue and a sharp pain in my side.

So, no trip to OneThing. I'm pretty upset about that. I've been looking forward to this for weeks, but there was no way I could get on a plane this morning. Bleh!

Uh oh

Well, what I was afraid of happened tonight. Nice big fat allergy attack with all the trimmings. One person who didn't think perfume included..... perfume..... and I'm down for the count. Spent a chunk of tonight wheezing, crying and trying to remember what day it was. Oh, and trying to figure out if I could get a plane ticket for tomorrow morning and fly home pronto.

The problem is that now I'm much more sensitive for the next couple of days. So, no Christmas Eve church for me. I don't remember the last time I was able to make it through a whole Christmas Eve service without getting sick. Merry Christmas to me.

So, please pray. The next week and a half are jam packed with travel, conference, etc and another incident like tonight will be pretty serious.

Nothing says Christmas cheer like being able to hear your lungs rattle like the ghost of Christmas past!

Rosie

A couple of weeks ago I was out sick for a few days. Not deathly ill, but sick enough that I would need a nap after brushing my teeth. So I mostly laid on the couch and thought about what I could be doing if I had the energy.

In the midst of this there was some television watching thrown in. This meant that my DVR finally got some space cleared up and also that I did some flipping through the channels. For some reason the "flipping through the channels" part seemed to always fall in the morning and inevitably it was while The View was on. Now, I've watched The View a handful of times in the past and never been that impressed with it. Pretty much the definition of fluff. However, I used to like Rosie O'Donnell when she had her own show and wanted to see what she was like on the new show.

Each and every time I landed on The View they were talking about gay adoptions, gay families, homophobia, gay rights, gay marriage..... you get the picture. I've also seen plenty of stories about Rosie making loud comments on gay issues on the show, so it seems like this is a pretty regular thing. And they weren't talking about it in the "debating the issues" kind of way, but in the "how can anyone be against gay marriage/gay adoptions" kind of way.

So, being sent into homes all across the country on a daily basis is a show who's sole purpose is now to promote the gay agenda.

I suppose I could be angry about this. I could rail about the downfall of television. Mostly I'm sad. I'm sad because no one else seems to have noticed this (though perhaps no one watches The View) and no one's saying anything about it. What other special interest group gets an hour of network airtime a day to promote their agenda? This seems so blatant to me. Is that others don't see it (see the earlier question about whether anyone watches or cares about The View) or whether they care or whether we've given up hope on the airwaves of America.

Rosie, you aren't funny. You aren't cute. And your shows aren't going to be allowed in my home anymore.